I'm not at all surprised at the results. Having spent years being and later working with the young single adults, I have seen how important marriage is to just about all of them.
With the financial uncertainty that's been in the world the last several years, coupled with high divorce rates and our society's increasing aversion to risk, it's no wonder young adults are delaying marriage. It's a big risk and they want to get it right the first time.
Scott HFebruary 13, 2015
Economic factors play a major role in the shift in marriage ages and attitudes. In heavily agrarian times having a spouse was nearly an economic necessity for getting started in adult life. The family was a business and having the physical capital that two partners brought to the enterprise was far more beneficial than trying to go it alone.
The more we have moved away from the agricultural model the more of a necessity it has become for individuals to establish individual careers, a process that requires significant resources. Also, where people could once start independent adulthood with very little, it now takes a lot more to have a foundation for just covering the basics. And, of course, the definition of "the basics" keeps being redefined upward.
So it is unsurprising that people wait until they are somewhat established to wed. Unfortunately, that model ends up excluding many from marriage, while creating less happy marriage situations for many others as they lose out on the happiness that ensues from developing into full adulthood together.
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JMDFebruary 26, 2015
I'm not at all surprised at the results. Having spent years being and later working with the young single adults, I have seen how important marriage is to just about all of them. With the financial uncertainty that's been in the world the last several years, coupled with high divorce rates and our society's increasing aversion to risk, it's no wonder young adults are delaying marriage. It's a big risk and they want to get it right the first time.
Scott HFebruary 13, 2015
Economic factors play a major role in the shift in marriage ages and attitudes. In heavily agrarian times having a spouse was nearly an economic necessity for getting started in adult life. The family was a business and having the physical capital that two partners brought to the enterprise was far more beneficial than trying to go it alone. The more we have moved away from the agricultural model the more of a necessity it has become for individuals to establish individual careers, a process that requires significant resources. Also, where people could once start independent adulthood with very little, it now takes a lot more to have a foundation for just covering the basics. And, of course, the definition of "the basics" keeps being redefined upward. So it is unsurprising that people wait until they are somewhat established to wed. Unfortunately, that model ends up excluding many from marriage, while creating less happy marriage situations for many others as they lose out on the happiness that ensues from developing into full adulthood together.
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