While
marriage
rates in America remained relatively stable over the past decade, young people are
struggling
to start
families
.
A
study
of marriage, cohabitation, and single status from 2012 to 2022 conducted by Bowling Green State University found that every age cohort’s marriage rate remained relatively similar except those aged 25-34.
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In that age group, the marriage rate decreased from 46% to 40%, while cohabitation and single status increased to 17% and 44%, respectively.
The trend is concerning, as recent
studies
show cohabitation and relationship instability is linked to lower fertility rates, contributing to the worldwide decrease in population growth.
University of Virginia sociologist W. Bradford Wilcox, director of UVA’s National Marriage Project, told the Washington Examiner that the fertility rate among married couples in the United States remains “relatively high,” but the problem is that there are “many fewer of them, and so the fertility rate has come down markedly.”
While he says it is not the only factor contributing to the fertility rate, the reduction in marriages is “certainly one of the reasons.”
Lower fertility is one of a host of problems that results from declining marriage rates, according to Wilcox.
“More and more folks being single in prime young adult years is linked to more loneliness, depression, anxiety, and less happiness,” Wilcox told the Washington Examiner. “People are more likely to flourish when they’re married, and it’s just unfortunate that we’re seeing a lot of young adults who are not even in any kind of relationship.”
Part of the decline in marriage can be explained by an increased cultural focus on education, career, and money as factors for success before marriage.
“Our culture is leading people to prioritize work and money over marriage, and they don’t recognize that marriage ends up being a lot more important for our sense of meaning and happiness than what we do at work,” Wilcox said. “A lot of young adults are really focusing in their 20s and early 30s on either graduate education or work or both and not really focusing much on finding a spouse.”
He continued, “There’s this idea that the most important thing is your job, is your career, not getting married and having a family. The data actually tells the opposite story, and that is that marriage, particularly a good marriage, is a stronger predictor of happiness than your job or your college degree or graduate degree.”
The career focus looks different for men and women, however.
Married men work more hours, make more money, and are less likely to be fired or quit their jobs.
For women, marriage needs to be separated from motherhood as they act differently in how they “influence women’s professional trajectories.”
However, something conventional wisdom does not emphasize is that “marriage is a wealth-creating institution,” as “people who get and stay married have a lot more income and a lot more assets.”
Not focusing on finding a spouse until later can result in not finding anyone at all, according to Wilcox.
“If you’re putting marriage off into your 30s, you’ve gotten more established, you’ve gotten more set in your ways,” he explained. “It’s sort of harder to merge two different, independent adult lives at that point and to forge a common, successful marriage and family life.”
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By contrast, couples who get married in their mid-20s consistently report happiness in their marriages.
“There’s something about establishing a life together at a relatively young age — and this goes completely counter to the conventional wisdom — this sort of path is most likely to maximize your likelihood of being happily married,” Wilcox said.
