Age of marriage - Research Paper Example

101 25 September Marriage comes in many different forms across cultures, and has varied widely throughout history. Today in Western cultures, people tend to get married later than in other parts of the world and later than previous generations within the same culture. There are many reasons for this development, which will be explored below, and there are many consequences which have and will continue to make an imprint on society from this adaptation of marriage. The purpose of this paper is to explore how culture has changed to amoralize this aspect of marriage and to pave the way for people to get married later. Additionally, it will explore the possible consequences of people getting married at a later age, including the possibility of a reduction in divorce rates and longer periods of time spent on education and career-building prior to marriage and producing children. Section One In the U.S., as well as other Western countries, the median age of marriage has increased dramatically in the last few years. For example, between 1890 and 1980, women got married at the age of 22, with only slight fluctuations in the years between (Uecker & Stokes 840). Similarly, the age at which men got married actually went down between these years, going from 26 to 25 (Uecker & Stokes 840). Since 1980, however, the average age at marriage for both men and women has increased, with women in the year 2000 being 25.1 on average, and men being 26.8. People now are even older, with the last estimates in 2008 giving the median age for women as 26.1 and the average age for men being 28.2 (Uecker & Stokes 840). Not only has the median age increased, but fewer people are married in the U.S. than ever before, with a decrease in married individuals from 72% in 1960 to just over half in 2008 (Uecker & Stokes 840), which is linked to the later age of marriage. There are a variety of reasons why people are choosing to get married at a later age. One of the main reasons that people are choosing to get married at a later age (or not get married at all) is an increasing awareness of and participation in women’s rights (Gilbert 86). In the 1960s and earlier, many women did not work and fewer women still had a career (Coontz 143). Nowadays, however, women are actively encouraged into education and therefore are becoming more interested in working full-time, having a career and participating in the working world as only men did at one time in history. Women who focus on their career have been shown to delay marriage, and to particularly delay having children (Lehrer & Chen 1), as these developments are distracting for women in the workplace. With these developments has come a reduced stigma for women choosing to live on their own, which means that it is now socially acceptable for anyone to choose work and to be self-sufficient without a partner, leading to the amoralization of later age marriages. As the role of women has changed, so have their legal rights with respect to marriage. In 1933, for example, women were granted citizenship outside of their husbands (Coontz 143), meaning that they were fully-fledged Americans, which they had not previously been. In 1975, married women began to be allowed to have financial credit in their own name (Coontz 145). It is decisions like these which make getting married less of a necessity for women (as they can now function independently) and more of a choice, which means that more and more people are taking their time over the decision and thus getting married later in life. Another reason why people are getting married later is due to the moral boundaries surrounding sex. Whereas previously, sex outside of marriage was frowned upon in most circles, it is now generally accepted outside of strict religion (Gilbert 222). One of the major reasons for getting married in the past was to have legitimate children; with this boundary removed, there is no longer the pressure to get married so young. Additionally, many of those who got pregnant outside of marriage would then get married to cover up the ‘accident’ in past years (Gilbert 222). The invention and availability of higher quality contraceptives has allowed people to circumvent this problem and delay marriage until they are ready. Along a similar line, the social stigma (as well as the legal problems) against unmarried mothers has all but disappeared. It is completely legal to have a child out of wedlock, and there are many cases in which the mother is raising the child alone. This could be due to a divorce, a break-up with an unmarried partner, or choosing to have the child alone via sperm donors. These are all now completely acceptable choices for women to make and again, there is no real need for marriage at all, let alone early marriage (Coughlin & Drewianka 2). Many of these developments focus on social and legal changes for women. This is no accident, as the median age for women at marriage has grown considerably more than that of men, although they are both on the rise. Many of the developments that have affected the morality of marriage revolve around the morality of women’s choices and how these have become more liberal in recent years. However, one phenomenon affects both men and women, and this is the growing focus on independence and living alone (Coughlin & Drewianka 3). Recently, a phenomenon has been described in which independence is more highly praised than other characteristics in the U.S., and this could be the reason why fewer people are deciding to get married, and when they do, it is at a later age. This independence has led to financial security, which means that people can afford to live alone, another feature of modern society that is on the increase (Coontz 123), and another factor that may be contributing to the increase in median age at marriage. Section Two There are consequences to everything, and the increasing average age at marriage is no different. As outlined above, marriage has changed over the years, as have the laws and traditions that accompany it. One of these changes is an increase in the number of people that get divorced, with some statistics suggesting that almost one in every two married couples gets a divorce (Uecker & Stokes 840). However, research shows that couples that get married when both partners are over 25 are resoundingly more likely to survive without divorce than those who get married below this age (Gilbert 234). This means that the increasing average age may actually reduce the numbers of people that get divorced, despite fears to the contrary (Coontz 98). This could have huge further benefits to individual families, both emotionally and financially. Another benefit of this change in tradition is that people, particularly women, will have more time to focus on education without marriage and the children that have traditionally accompanied it. Now that the average age at marriage for women is at 26.1 and 28.2 for men (Uecker & Stokes 840), this gives ample amounts of time to finish college, and perhaps even go to grad school or get a huge head start on the career before settling down and looking to start a family. This could have positive consequences for those involved and the general economy, perhaps leading to the creation of more jobs by educated people and the larger numbers of people able to participate in education. Another benefit, which we have already begun to see, is the creation of a better society for women and an improvement in their roles. Statistics show that, whilst men generally benefit from marriage in a variety of ways, married women live shorter, unhappier and unhealthier lives than their bachelorette counterparts, and are less fiscally solvent (Gilbert 178). Getting married later and being in more equal partnerships has helped to resolve this problem, which means that this will probably continue as the age at marriage begins to increase and there is a continuing improvement in women’s rights and the social position of women. There are also negative consequences associated with the increasing average age at marriage. One of these is that many people still believe in waiting until marriage to have children, which means that many children will be born to increasingly older mothers. We have already seen the consequences of this, with more and more women being considered infertile and having to resort to IVF and other fertility treatments (Coontz 144). Having children at a later age is also problematic for the child, because it can lead to Down Syndrome and have other biological effects, which could be potentially harmful in a huge number of areas. Additionally, many of the reasons that the average age upon marriage is increasing are social factors which have reduced the sanctity of marriage and have placed less emphasis on permanent partnerships. This may have consequences in which more children are born out of wedlock or to single mothers, which can be traumatic for the child (Glick 24). Some may also worry that the institution of marriage is being made a joke of, and this could lead to moral corruption, although Gilbert (23) believes that marriage has changed so much over the years this would be extremely difficult to judge. Conclusions Evidently, there are a huge number of reasons why the average age upon marriage is increasing, most of them revolving around independence (financial and sexual) for women and an increase in legal rights for females. There has also been an increasing importance placed on independence, which means that many people believe it necessary to live alone prior to getting married, pushing the average age up. There are many consequences of this amoralization, positive and negative, including the possibility of reduced divorce rates, an increase in education, and possible problems for the health of older mothers and their children. Overall, it will be interesting to see how this new view of marriage develops alongside our morality. Works Cited Coontz, Stephanie. Marriage, a History: From Obedience to Intimacy, or How Love Conquered Marriage. Viking Adult, 2005. Print. Coughlin, Tristan P., and Scott D. Drewianka. “Can Rising Inequality Explain Aggregate Trends in Marriage? Evidence from US States, 1977-2005.” The BE Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy 11.1 (2011): n. pag. Web. 25 Sept. 2012. Gilbert, Elizabeth. Committed: A Sceptic Makes Peace With Marriage. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 2010. Print. Glick, Paul C. “Marriage, Divorce, and Living Arrangements Prospective Changes.” Journal of Family Issues 5.1 (1984): 7–26. Print. Lehrer, Evelyn L., and & Yu Chen. “Women’s Age at First Marriage and Marital Instability: Evidence from the 2006-2008 National Survey of Family Growth.” Discussion Paper Series (2011). Web. 25 Sept. 2012. Uecker, Jeremy E., and Charles E. Stokes. “Early Marriage in the United States.” Journal of Marriage and Family 70.4 (2008): 835-846. Print. Read More