(Newswire.net — November 1, 2017) — Marriage is transforming in the United States. We’re getting married in different ways, for different reasons, to different people, and under different conditions and circumstances. So how are these trends forming, and what does it mean about the state of marriage in the United States?
Most Surprising Trends
These are some of the most surprising marriage-related trends forming in the United States:
- Marrying delays. On average, people are waiting longer to get married, procrastinating a decision that previous generations made in their early 20s. This is especially common in the millennial generation, since many millennials still live with their parents, struggle financially, or otherwise feel unready for the commitment of marriage. This is driving the overall marriage rate slightly lower, and is skewing the marriage figures slightly higher, in favor of people in their late 20s to early 30s, instead of early 20s.
- Lower divorce rates. Though many people assume that the divorce rate has risen consistently for decades and continues to rise, given how easy it is to get divorced in the United States, the divorce rate actually stands at a 40-year low. There are many potential reasons for this. It could be that the initial boom in divorce rates has finally ended, and divorce rates have stabilized. It could be that because people are marrying older, they’re making smarter and longer-term decisions about their partners. It could be that some people are forgoing marriage altogether, and filtering themselves out from the pool of potential divorcees. Most likely, it’s a complicated combination of all these factors and some that economists haven’t even identified.
- Online registries and planning. Thanks to the prevalence and availability of the internet, the way people are planning weddings is starting to change too. Couples now have access to far more options, and with far greater convenience; for example, they can choose online registries with thousands of potential gift options, and contact online wedding planners for assistance without ever meeting in person.
- More partnership without marriage. More people are also choosing to live together in a partnership, instead of getting married. Younger generations value marriage less as a symbol of a committed relationship, and instead pursue committed relationships by their own standards. This may be partially contributing to lower rates of divorce; since fewer committed couples formalize their commitments with marriage, fewer divorces are necessary if the couple eventually splits. On top of that, more people than ever before are living alone, without a partner or spouse; the rate was 39 percent in 2007, but has climbed to 42 percent in 2017.
- Looser perspectives on marriage. People, especially younger people, are starting to see marriage as less important, and have looser perspectives on how and why marriages should take place. By some, marriage is seen almost as a luxury, rather than a necessity or an important social step to take. By others, marriage is seen as a relic of the past; it’s viewed as an outdated institution that was created for the sake of improving family status and ensuring successful bloodlines. Getting married is, therefore, a lower priority, and a more flexible one, than building a career and contributing to society.
- Fewer religious overtones. Americans are becoming decreasingly focused on religion as well. Compared to 2007, there are about 5 million fewer Christians in the United States, and the percentage of Americans who have no religious affiliation has risen from 16 percent to nearly 23 percent. Accordingly, weddings and marriages are starting to have fewer religious overtones; there are more secular weddings in the United States, and religious-centric weddings are less focused on traditions and spirituality, and more focused on the celebratory nature of the event.
Are These Trends Good or Bad?
You likely read about at least one of these trends and thought about it as being a “good” or “bad” thing about society. For example, if you’re religious, you might see the increased secularism of marriages to be a sign of decline, or if you’re a major proponent of marriage, you might see the lower divorce rates as a good sign.
However, none of these trends is truly good or bad, for one important reason; marriage is a cultural creation, and it holds value only because we ascribe value to it. If, collectively, we redefine what those values are and how we perceive them, then our view on marriage changes, and we change along with it.