By Kate Domenichella
“Kate, Kate! Adam texted me a picture of a beautiful three diamond, all princess cut with four diamonds on each side engagement ring! Why is he sending me this? But that’s not his hand- that doesn’t look like his hand or his thumb… I’m calling him right now.”
One of the biggest trends occurring in today’s society is the marriage rates amongst the younger generation. The median age for first marriages is 27 years old. However, when Brigham Young University conducted a study in which 536 students and 806 parents took part in, the students believed the marriage was more important to them at a younger age opposed to an older age (older than 27).
They specifically said they would prefer to be married by 25. All parents agreed that their children should be married when they are older than 25. The lead author of the study was quoted in saying, “The assumption has been that the younger generations want to delay marriage and parents are hassling them about when they would get married, we actually found the opposite, that the parental generation is showing the ‘slow down’ mindset more than the young adults.”
With that said, it is important to also keep in the back of eager young adult’s minds that if individuals are married between 20 to 25 years of age, their divorce rate is a mind-blowing 60 percent (National Center for Health Statistics).
In an interview with Katiria Santiago, a newly married 20 year old woman. Santiago was asked if she had faced any hardships in her married life or if she had any second thoughts in the days leading up to her and her fiancés big day. Santiago calmly responded, “Every relationship has hardships whether it’s being in a relationship or being married. We have had disagreements but we work it out. I didn’t have any second thoughts. I’m happy with the decision I made.”
The last question posed to Santiago was whether or not she would encourage girls to be engaged at the same age she was (19). She hesitated for a moment before responding, “I would encourage girls if their mind is set as well as the guy. What I mean by that is marriage isn’t just a relationship- it’s a union of two becoming one. Therefore, you have to be ready when there are disagreements and there’s no ‘I want to do it this way’; it’s more both partners agreeing to the situation. Maturity and understanding is very important in marriage.”
A second interview was conducted with Fitchburg State Student, Alexandra Hughes, about her views on marriage rates in young adults. Hughes has been with her boyfriend for almost three years. She was asked if her boyfriend was to propose to her right now, at age 19, what would her response be?
Hughes nodded her head and responded, “Yes and no, to be honest. I feel like it is not socially acceptable because I am so young. When I get engaged I want my friends and parents to be 100 percent happy for us. I don’t want them to have doubts about it because I am so young. But, in the yes factor, I feel like I love him enough to be married to him right now.”
With her last question, a look of happiness crossed her face when she was asked why she believed there is such a trend for those 25 and under to be engaged, she responded, “They see other friends doing it and obviously since we were little girls all we’ve wanted was to be married. The girl wants to be more beautiful on her wedding day then she has ever looked but she is so focused on wanting the dress, the hair, the flowers, and the makeup to be flawless and then it’s like, oh shit. I have to marry this guy… forever!”
Gallup’s Lydia Saad wrote an interesting article with multiple intriguing statistics called “By Age 24, Marriage Wins Out” with the sub title “At age 24, 30% are married while 20% are living together with someone”. Saad lists statistics in groupings of their categories. One particular grouping of importance was “Marital Status” by age.
In this grouping, those 18-19 years of age had 3% currently married, 7% were already living together with a partner, and 2% were widowed/divorced/separated, and 86% never married. Individuals 20-29 years old had even more interesting figures- 34% currently married, 15% living with a partner, and 5% widowed/divorced/separated.
Weddings for those 25 and younger are becoming quite the trend in today’s society. Individuals are tying the knot quicker than their predecessors. However, their divorce rate has increased dramatically over the years.
Think about the facts first.
“Well, if your friend’s girlfriend says no when he proposes, can I have her ring? Just so I can wear it…”
