USA Today published an article about young adults and their "wait" for marriage. I knew the average age of first time marriages was increasing, but this gives further evidence to this fact.According to the article, "[t]he trend toward delaying marriage has emerged over several decades as economic and social forces have made it more difficult for those in their 20s to reach independence. Sociologists and demographers say other factors are also at work, including increasing numbers of cohabiting couples, more highly educated women who have fewer highly educated men of comparable age to partner with, and more choices open to women than in decades past."
I would personally add to this list:
- Looser Sexual Norms: Each generation tends to move further and further away from the expected sexual norms of their parents' generation. Media (both professional (TV and cinema) and self-published (such as YouTube)) seem to reflect this. Why wait for marriage for sex when you are encouraged to enjoy it outside of a long-term marriage commitment?
- Pain of Divorce: The children of the divorces of the 80s are now adults and have no desire to experience the pain they watched their parents go through (and that they themselves experienced). So why rush into marriage when it appears it will only bring arguing, separation, and pain?
- Extended Adolescence: Sociologists have been extending the age of adolescence to 26, and in some cases I've read, age 30. We seem to be maturing slower, whether because of our upbringing, parental examples, education, or past experiences, and so we simply aren't ready for the responsibility of marriage.
Those were the first things to pop into my mind, and I'm not surprised one bit by the USA Today article. And I don't necessarily see this as a bad thing - I would rather have people wait until they truly are ready for marriage than jump in to soon and wreak havoc upon a relationship through their selfishness and immaturity.
No comments:
Post a Comment