Delaying Marriage
Patterns in relationships and families are always changing, and honestly, it can be hard to keep up with it all! How we as a society perceive family has changed drastically in the past few years, we now get married later, have fewer children, and the number of people living alone has even increased. Of course, all of these new trends affect families but many people don't really know how much they can affect families.
My mother married my father when she was 20 and both my grandmothers also got married at 20. I turned 20 last year and the idea that my mom was married and expecting her first child when she was my age is insane to me, I feel like I can barely handle myself and adding another person to that mix sounds terrifying. Nobody today would think I'm crazy for not wanting to get married right now (except my Mom and Nana, they like to remind me they were both married at my age) because its normal today to not get married until you're in your late 20s and even early 30s. Between 1950 and 1970, half of the woman who were at the time married did so by the time they were 20.5 years old and men by the time they were 22.5 (Lauer and Lauer 2012). In 1970 the ages started to increase and by 2007 the average age was 26 for woman and 28 for men. A big factor in this trend is the emphasis society puts on freedom and personal growth, leaving many to believe that marriage in a way, is the end to freedom and personal growth, which is not at all true.
A factor that goes hand in hand with delayed marriage, is the decrease we have seen in birth rates in the last few years. As a result of many getting married later, an increasing about of woman wait until their mid to late 30s to have their first child. With the delayed births and the increasing number who go childless, the birth rate has declined considerably. In 2008 the rate was 13.9 births per 1000 woman aged 15 to 44, the rate is now lower than what is necessary for the natural replacement of the population (Bachu and O'Connell 2001).
Growing up in the LDS culture I always assumed everyone got married in their early 20s, it wasn't until I was a teen that I found out how untrue that was. I like to think that I can see both sides of the argument, I understand why so many want to wait, so they can figure out who they are as an individual and work on their career. But I also know that many of those people don't see the divine plan that God has made for us while we are here on Earth. Marriage and family is one of the most important aspects of God's plan and there is a very important reason why we are commanded to have a family and most of the world has lost sight of that reason.
My mother married my father when she was 20 and both my grandmothers also got married at 20. I turned 20 last year and the idea that my mom was married and expecting her first child when she was my age is insane to me, I feel like I can barely handle myself and adding another person to that mix sounds terrifying. Nobody today would think I'm crazy for not wanting to get married right now (except my Mom and Nana, they like to remind me they were both married at my age) because its normal today to not get married until you're in your late 20s and even early 30s. Between 1950 and 1970, half of the woman who were at the time married did so by the time they were 20.5 years old and men by the time they were 22.5 (Lauer and Lauer 2012). In 1970 the ages started to increase and by 2007 the average age was 26 for woman and 28 for men. A big factor in this trend is the emphasis society puts on freedom and personal growth, leaving many to believe that marriage in a way, is the end to freedom and personal growth, which is not at all true.
A factor that goes hand in hand with delayed marriage, is the decrease we have seen in birth rates in the last few years. As a result of many getting married later, an increasing about of woman wait until their mid to late 30s to have their first child. With the delayed births and the increasing number who go childless, the birth rate has declined considerably. In 2008 the rate was 13.9 births per 1000 woman aged 15 to 44, the rate is now lower than what is necessary for the natural replacement of the population (Bachu and O'Connell 2001).
Growing up in the LDS culture I always assumed everyone got married in their early 20s, it wasn't until I was a teen that I found out how untrue that was. I like to think that I can see both sides of the argument, I understand why so many want to wait, so they can figure out who they are as an individual and work on their career. But I also know that many of those people don't see the divine plan that God has made for us while we are here on Earth. Marriage and family is one of the most important aspects of God's plan and there is a very important reason why we are commanded to have a family and most of the world has lost sight of that reason.
Amy, it is valuable to the understanding of any topic that a person considers all sides of an argument. From a sound in depth analysis and open minded study, one start to formulate an opinion that is fair and reasoned
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