Your Tomorrow
Starts Today

Dramatic shift over time in U.S. marriage rate

On Behalf of | Sep 18, 2017 | Alimony/Spousal Support |

While the changes in the percentage of U.S. adults who are married might not be apparent from year to year, the incremental shifts add up over time. About half of all American adults are today married; down 9 percent from 25 years ago and down more than 20 percent since 1960.

The Pew Research Center says the decline can be explained in part by a modern reality: Americans marry later in life today than they did back in the day. The median age for women entering their first marriage is today 27 and for men it is 29. Back in 1960, those ages were 20 and 22, respectively.

The decline in the percentage of married U.S. adults is also due to the fact that more people are living with a partner rather than marrying, Pew says.

The organization’s researchers contacted more than 4,900 adults last month for the survey.

According to Pew, unmarried adults who have been through divorce are not typically eager to tie that knot again. Slightly less than a quarter of them (23 percent) say they’d like to get married again. Nearly half (45 percent) say they’ll never marry again and about a third (30 percent) say they don’t know whether they will ever remarry.

More than half of adults who have never been married (58 percent) say they would like to marry one day and 27 percent fall into the unsure category. Fourteen percent of never-married adults are sure they will stay that way.

While many people say they just don’t know if they will ever marry, there are of course many others who know for sure that their marriage is not working.

Here in South Florida, you can discuss family law needs with the Law Office of Cheryl Bucker, P.A.