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I don't know but everyone keeps talking about how fewer and fewer people are getting married - and all I see around me is people getting married...
Agreed. If I believed stuff on message boards about marriage, I would think wedding chapels were closing, bakers were losing money, because there were less wedding cakes to make and Daves Bridal was going out of business
Agreed. If I believed stuff on message boards about marriage, I would think wedding chapels were closing, bakers were losing money, because there were less wedding cakes to makem and Daves Bridal was going out of business
I know. And most of my friends have gotten married in the last 10 years or so - and my Facebook feed is constantly blowing up with wedding pics and anniversaries.
Well, the census data pretty clearly shows continually decline in marriage rates. Though it is plateauing for educated folks.
I would say that almost all of the people in my social circles have college degrees - so that could be part of it. All I know is that most of my friends are married - not all - but the majority. Point being that I don't think that marriage is dying out or becoming obsolete.
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
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Most of my friends have undergrad/grad degrees, and a minority are married, but, of course, that is a self selecting thing too. People tend to associate with other similar types. Few of my college friends married, and not a lot of my high school friends did either.
This only applies to men. Women can pawn their debt off on men in divorce. It's interesting....no, that's not the word I'm looking for....CRIMINAL, that's the one.....how the divorce industry works in the western countries.
Actually, no one man or woman can pawn off pre-marriage debt in a divorce. Just like pre-maritial assets are not part of a divorce. Where you run into trouble on pre-marital debts and assets (and why you need a pre-nup for these) is if you die and you want your premarital assets to go to someone else (like a child of a former marriage).
Where you get in trouble with assets in a marriage is if you marry someone who is "financially immature" and doesn't understand assets, debts, budgets, investments, etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dewdrop93
I don't know but everyone keeps talking about how fewer and fewer people are getting married - and all I see around me is people getting married...
That may be the case, but overall, marriage rates are declining. The main reason is the economy according to Forbes. That might be why you see friends marrying now as things are getting better. But for a lot of people, the economy is still in a slump and their personal finances are dismal.
Another reason the marriage rate is "declining" is because sometimes they measure the rate among younger people only. In that case, it's because people are getting married at an older age.
Quote:
Overall, only half of all adults in the United States are married, a record low. The portion that has “ever” been married is 72 percent, but that’s down from 85 percent a half century ago. And the median age at first marriage is as high as it’s ever been since the Census Bureau first published statistics: 26.5 years for brides, and 28.7 for grooms. That’s six years older for men and women today than in 1960.
The Pew report says “it is beyond the scope” of its analysis to explain why marriage has declined, but it offers a few hints. More young people are enrolled in college, long a factor in delaying marriage. “Fallout from the Great Recession” is also likely a factor...
It’s also well-known that the percentage of young people unemployed is higher than for adults overall — another factor that would discourage tying the knot. In fact, the report notes that other developed nations, especially in Europe, are also seeing the same trend — countries that are struggling economically.
In the 1920s, 92 women walked down the aisle each year per 1,000 single women of marrying age. Today, it's a third that. Marriage rates were expected to plateau in the wake of the baby boom, but so far they just keep dropping... many college-educated women are simply putting off getting hitched, and many (sic) women might be foregoing it altogether.
Quote:
(Why are marriage rates dropping)? The answer depends on whom you ask, but almost every expert points in part to the women’s liberation movement of the late 1960s and ’70s. As more women earned college degrees, entered the workforce and delayed motherhood, marriage became less necessary for their economic survival.
U.Va. psychology professor Robert Emery says that, in the past, people thought of marriage as “more of a businesslike relationship.” Women often received financial support from their husbands and women often provided household and child-rearing labor. Marriage rates fell and divorce rates rose when people started thinking less with their wallets and more with their hearts.
I've also read that a decline in religion has a lot to do with it as well. But I can't find those articles right now. But it makes sense. Marriage is often seen as a religious event (weddings in a church) so the less religious a society is, the less religious customs they have.
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jillabean
I've also read that a decline in religion has a lot to do with it as well. But I can't find those articles right now. But it makes sense. Marriage is often seen as a religious event (weddings in a church) so the less religious a society is, the less religious customs they have.
This is seen throughout Western Europe. The U.S. is still a very culturally conservative and very religious country.
Actually, no one man or woman can pawn off pre-marriage debt in a divorce. Just like pre-maritial assets are not part of a divorce. Where you run into trouble on pre-marital debts and assets (and why you need a pre-nup for these) is if you die and you want your premarital assets to go to someone else (like a child of a former marriage).
Where you get in trouble with assets in a marriage is if you marry someone who is "financially immature" and doesn't understand assets, debts, budgets, investments, etc.
That may be the case, but overall, marriage rates are declining. The main reason is the economy according to Forbes. That might be why you see friends marrying now as things are getting better. But for a lot of people, the economy is still in a slump and their personal finances are dismal.
Another reason the marriage rate is "declining" is because sometimes they measure the rate among younger people only. In that case, it's because people are getting married at an older age.
I've also read that a decline in religion has a lot to do with it as well. But I can't find those articles right now. But it makes sense. Marriage is often seen as a religious event (weddings in a church) so the less religious a society is, the less religious customs they have.
But marriage has been secularized ages ago, no? I've met several atheist couples through the years.
I'm only seeing a very small change that the United States is becoming less religious. By that I mean non-believers. I currently do not know a single atheist.
My ex and I (both atheists) were married in a courthouse. One does not have to marry in a church if they are the non religious type. I especially think marriage is a good idea if a couple wants to have children. Nothing religious about it anymore.
From the PBS link above I think this has more to do with the decline than anything else:
“Fallout from the Great Recession”
I think it's that and the obvious erosion of the middle class.
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