Millennials are waiting longer to marry
It’s probably no surprise to learn that fewer millennials are marrying early on in life, but here’s a roundup of the numbers according to a recent analysis of census data conducted by Stateline.
Nationally, the number of people between the ages of 20 and 34 who have never married has risen since 2000.
In Florida, 47 percent of 20- to 34-year-olds stayed unmarried in 2000. That number has risen to 68 percent in 2015.
In some larger cities numbers are higher: 81 percent of young people are still single in Washington, D.C., up from 73 percent in 2000.
The reasons can only be guessed at.
Maybe it’s about putting careers first, or a need to “find themselves” before partnering up. Maybe it’s a fear of commitment, or financial instability as they start chipping away at student loans while working while earning entry-level salaries. Others claim the ease of online dating makes it feel like something better will inevitably come along.
Not quite single
At a higher rate, young couples are living together without getting married. For the 20 to 34 age group, U.S. households that include unmarried partners increased from 12 to 16 percent since 2000.
Between 2007 and 2016, the share of 20- to 34-year-olds living with a partner, married or not, dropped from 49 to 43 percent.
Delaying the big day
For 70 years, the U.S. marrying age has been steadily rising to 30.
In 2016, the median age at first marriage was 29 for men and 27 for women, according to national census data. For both genders, that’s two years older than in 2000, and more than seven years older compared to the 1950s.
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