5 Reasons Why People Are Getting Married Later And Later In Life
People also live alone more and for longer periods.
With the use of birth control, choosing not to get married didn't have to mean choosing between abstinence or unwanted pregnancy. That made it easier for women, in particular, to choose careers that required more education, and made living alone more attractive for everybody.
The trend toward living alone was also boosted by the fact that technology simply made it easier. Washing machines and microwaves, for example, reduced the amount of skill and time required for domestic chores, and two-person households where only one person worked became less common or necessary.
There are fewer "shotgun" marriages.
As it's become relatively more acceptable to have children outside of marriage, either individually or while cohabiting, and as birth control and abortion have become more freely available, it's less likely that a pregnancy will result in rapid marriage.
More people go to college.
The number of men and women who attended college rose steadily through the 1980s. Then, men's rate of enrollment began to plateau as women's continued to climb. Today, women earn more college degrees than men. That helps partially explain why the gap between men and women's ages at first marriage has narrowed. It also helps explain the increase in age for both sexes, since attending college pushes back marriage timelines. People have smaller families. When you expect to have fewer kids, you don't need to start as early. American women had an average of more than three children in the '60s. Now they have less than two.