Is There an Ideal Age for Marriage?

Marry too early and you run the risk of making yourself poor, losing out on educational opportunities, and increasing the likelihood of divorce. Marry too late and you run the risk of difficulties conceiving children, getting set in your ways, ending up past your prime on the marriage market, and feeling like you might get stuck being single for the rest of your life.

Below is a look at what others have to say and what the world actually does when it comes to marriage. Lots of graphs follow.

A brief summary of some of the data:

• Women consistently marry at younger ages on average than men do. This is true in every nation worldwide.
  
• The average age at first marriage in the US has changed over the last century -- first going down and then going up. It is now at its historical high. (A factor contributing to the increase in age could be a substitution effect of couples living together in their 20s after advances in birth control.)
  
• Americans marry young in comparison with other developed countries.
• According to 2006 US Census data, approximately 2 out of every 3 men, and 3 out of every 4 women marry by age 34. The numbers increase to 4 out of every 5 men and 7 out of 8 women by age 44. (Women marrying older men and/or men having a greater propensity for remarriage after divorce could account for the ratio difference between genders.)
  
• In the US, there does seem to be some correlation between marrying young (early 20s) and higher divorce rates. (This could be due to cultural, economic, educational, and/or legal differences among the states.)
  

Research on the effects of age at first marriage appears to be mixed:

[A]s young people wait longer to marry, there is growing debate over whether waiting is a good idea, and if so, how long is best. Those who advocate marriage in the early to mid-20s say that's the age when the pool of possible mates is larger, it's when couples can "grow up" together and it's prime for childbearing. But others favor the late 20s or early 30s, saying maturity makes for happier unions and greater economic security — both of which make divorce less likely.

As a result, researchers, sociologists and family experts are taking a closer look at the attitudes behind the trend to see if there really is an optimum age to marry that maximizes the benefits of matrimony and minimizes possible problems...

It's well documented that those who marry before age 20 are two to three times more likely to divorce, researchers say. But studies are still trying to determine whether marrying at certain ages may improve relationships and help marriages survive.

A study being drafted by sociologist Norval Glenn of the University of Texas-Austin finds that those who marry in the early to mid-20s are slightly happier and less likely to break up than those who marry in the later 20s, but are significantly more satisfied with their relationships than those who marry at 30 or older...

But research by sociologist Paul Amato of Pennsylvania State University for a 2007 book he co-wrote suggests quite the opposite. The studies for Alone Together: How Marriage in America Is Changing used different data and different criteria and found distinct benefits to marrying older.

"We found that the delay in marriage was actually a good thing and it actually improved the average marital quality by a fair amount," he says.

"Older marriages (30s vs. 20s) were more cohesive in the sense they did things more often together as a couple. And couples who married at older ages were less likely to report thinking about divorce or that their marriage was in trouble."

It seems everyone who is trying to turn love into a science is just as confused as the rest of us.

While most appear to think marrying in mid-to-late-twenties is best, people who find themselves still single should not give up hope. Many find love and marriage after age 45.

My take aways:

1) There is large heterogeneity in individuals and in matches in the marriage market. Both you and your story are unique, so don't fret too much if your life has turned out differently from these medians.

2) If you're over the age of 25 and meet someone you love, trust, and are compatible with, don't hesitate to get married.

3) If you're older than 25 and want to get married, don't give up hope no matter what age you are. While it's never too late, sooner is probably better than later past this point, so start looking!

Graphs:

Below are some graphs that I made/found from various sources of marriage statistics in the US and from around the world.

Percent of Americans never married, 2006:



Median age at first marriage in the US, 1890-2007:


Average age of first marriage and divorce rates:



Here is what the difference between males and females in average age at marriage looks like globally. Wikipedia has more statistics on age at first marriage around the world. If anything, the US appears to marry young relative to the rest of the world -- both men and women.