The idea of marriage entails two people who commit to a relationship by law to live together in riches and poverty, through sickness and health till death do them part. The notion provided by soap operas is that both men and women marry based on love. Note that there has been a steady increase in the age at the initial marriage for both men and women in the US. The median age has been noted to rise consistently, rising from 23 for men in 1960 to 28 in 2010. There are varied factors that have been associated with this trend, some of which are political such as the legalization of abortion and others that are purely social such as a growing trend in the rates of cohabitation. The rates of marriage in contemporary times have adopted a steady declining trend due to social, economic and political reasons.
Cohabiting is the practice of living together as a couple but without a civil union under law. A civil union is a marriage. It’s the age-old tradition of granting a couple the license to procreate and gather wealth under the family name established by the marriage. Couples tend to cohabitate before getting into marriage. It is their strategy to test one's relationship prior to marriage. In time, it eventually became the norm for testing the integrity of a relationship before committing to marriage. However, in recent times, couples have remained stuck in this stage of the relationship preceding marriage. What is most alarming is the ‘growth in the prevalence of unmarried cohabitation’. Most couple cites various reasons for cohabiting ranging from personal preference to the freedom of uncertainty and therefore freedom to leave the relationship that cohabiting offers, unlike marriage. In the contemporary society, cohabiting has become a ‘thing’. It is a trend that has been adopted by contemporary society as an alternative to marriage. However, cohabiting cannot be equated to marriage as the two arrangements are fundamentally different.
The economic trends in various economies of the world have all gone through drastic changes in periods of depression and recession. The implications being that most people have put aside any unnecessary, expensive plans during this period, and married couple are not exempt. Weddings cost money and can be a source of financial burden to a couple during an economic recession. Therefore, priorities tend to change, and weddings are canceled or postponed. The consequence of postponing weddings is a delayed marriage. Aside from this fact, most young college-educated adults tend to delay moving out of their parents’ homes. Moving away from the parents’ home has long been viewed as a sign of transition into adulthood. However, times are changing and economic times are leading to a situation where young adults who had previously left their parents’ homes are forced to return in order to weather the economic recession together . Young adults living with their parents due tough economic times will understandably delay marriage in order to establish job security or financial security. However, one might argue that tough economic times lead to cohabitation which eventually leads to early marriage. However, there is no established correlation between cohabitation and early marriages.
Financial security is important to young people out of college looking for work and eventually aspiring to settle down. The traditional method of approaching this problem has always been to seek employment. Employment translates into job security: job security means a steady income and a steady income means an expensive venture such as a wedding can be conveniently done. Therefore, unemployment can potentially delay marriage (Van Dolen, Weinberg, and Ma 172-80). The current spike in unemployment rates due to the economic recession of the various economies of the world is steadily increasing. Economies hit by recession result in a lot of employees being laid off work. If such a couple had made plans of a wedding, then they are left with limited choices: to cancel or to postpone the event. On the contrary, couples ordinarily plan for weddings according to their means. However, the burden of having to start a family without proper financial stability makes the would-be couples to delay marriage.
The politics of feminism ideals to empower the woman by career advancement and the politics of the right age to marry are also of great influence delaying marriage. Women in the contemporary world have greatly benefited from education. The emphasis on the girl child has created a scenario of women actively getting involved in employment. The downside of this, however, is the fact that most young adult women, after investing so much time pursuing education, feel the need to pursue a career in their chosen discipline (Goldin, Claudia, and Lawrence Katz 461-65). The implications translate into a priority shift onto career advancement over marriage and therefore, delayed marriage.
In conclusion, therefore, the rates of marriage in contemporary times have adopted a steady declining trend due to social, economic and political factors. Political ideals influence our decision-making by directing our actions. Women, for instance, have abandoned the institution of marriage in their pursuit of career advancement. The issues surrounding job security and the accompanying economic bottlenecks are not favorable either. Marriage is accompanied by initial cost, be it a civil union officiated in a government office or a church wedding. Parting with finances that could cater for basic needs during economic recessions coupled with being unemployed or underemployed is unheard of. Most couples have, therefore, taken to cohabiting to conform to tough economic times. The end result is delayed marriage.
Works Cited
Beaujouan, Éva and Máire Ní Bhrolcháin. "Cohabitation and marriage in Britain since the 1970s." Population Trends (2011): 35-59.
Cherlin, Andrew, et al. "The effects of the Great Recession on family structure and fertility." The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (2013): 214-231. Document.
Lehrer, Evelyn L. and Yu Chen. "Delayed entry into first marriage and marital stability: Further evidence on the Becker-Landes-Michael hypothesis." Demographic Research (2013): 522-537. Document.
Van Dolen, Willemijn M., Charles B. Weinberg and Leiming Ma. "The Influence of Unemployment and Divorce Rate on Child Help-Seeking Behavior about Violence, Relationships, and Other Issues." Child Abuse & Neglect: The International Journal (2013): 172-180. Web.
