Delaying marriage
A recent study by the Pew Research Center found that more than one-third of American singles 18 to 29 say they aren’t looking for a romantic partner. In 1970, only 15 percent of Americans 25 to 29 were unmarried. Now nearly half are, according to 2005 census numbers. Census statistics suggest that young adults living in states where there is a high cost of living and a competitive career market often wait longer to marry. Statistics also show that today’s young adults are making less, when adjusted for inflation, than people their age did 30 years ago.
Washington, D.C., has the highest median age for marriage in the nation: 30. Florida has the oldest age of marriage for the South (27 for men, 25 for women).
Delaying marriage has its benefits, research shows. The National Marriage Project at Rutgers University reports that, while divorce rates hover near 50 percent for all Americans, couples cut that in half by waiting to marry after 25.
South Florida Sun-Sentinel