Marital Dilemma Research shows that 41% of first time, 60% of second time, and 73% of all third time marriages will all end the same way, split and separated (WF Lawyers 1). Obviously there are many obstacles that could lead to divorce such as location, religion, and even political association. Regardless, it is my firm belief that one leading cause of divorce, which is commonly overlooked, is early marriage. Young couples should not marry at an extremely young age, because of the lack of maturity, lack of life skills, and lack of financial stability. To support this claim I will be citing facts and statistics concerning early marriages, revealing complications bestowed upon couples as a result, and discussing possible solutions that may satisfy …show more content…
To accurately assess the pros and cons of early marriage in today’s society the reader must first have a depict understanding of what marriage is and how it has progressed and evolved throughout time. Furthermore the reader must also understand what I mean when I say early marriage. First off, I’m specifically referring to someone around 20 years or younger. To me that would qualify as an extremely early age. This is not to say that marrying sometime in your early 20’s should be considered a bad thing. But it is my firm belief that marriage is a sacred bond therefore people need to be cautious when dealing in this topic. Marriage is defined as the act of entering into wedlock or being in the state or condition of being a husband or wife (Harper). More specifically it is the union of a man and women for life by a formal declaration which joins the two in wedlock (Harper). By definition, marriage is technically a legal bond between two individuals which shouldn’t be broken or tainted by man. Yet this hasn’t always been the case. In fact according to a book written by Shezad Noorani, who studied the inequality of married teens in foreign countries, there are many places …show more content…
Obviously there wouldn’t be a legal minimum age for marriage in the U.S. unless it wasn’t a problem at some point in time, although you can marry younger with parental consent in most states (Singh 9). Even China began to enforce a minimum which was 20 years old in 1980 (9). Regardless, there are still many pros to early marriage, if there weren’t then the minimum here would be much higher. With all the evidence shifting from one side to the other, there doesn’t appear to be a perfect answer either way you go. Maybe that’s because this topic overall is circumstantial in nature. Not everyone goes through the same life day in and day out. People live in different worlds and by different circumstances. In Mckay’s article “The Surprising Benefits of Marrying Young,” Mckay clearly addresses the issue. “Research shows that couples who get married before age 25 are twice as likely to get divorced” (Mckay 2). He clearly states a problem yet writes an article explaining why that problem isn’t always an issue. The truth is, is that even though most statistics concerning early marriage are factual sometimes early marriage is necessary. Below 20 in my opinion just doesn’t seem appealing but after reviewing the evidence it doesn’t seem like above 27 would be a great age either. Truthfully there must be common ground where both sides can stand. For those who wish to excel at college, make connections, and build a solid foundation for a
In the article “Grounds for Marriage: How Relationships Succeed or Fail” by Arlene Skolnick talks a lot about how the attitudes towards marriages now a days is much different then what peoples attitudes have been in the past. The article talks about how there are two parts of every marriage “the husband’s and the wife’s”. This article touches on the affects cohabitation, and how cohabitation is more likely to happen among younger adults. This article talks about how the younger adults are more inclined to cohabitate before marriage, and that currently the majority of couples that are interring in to marriage have previously lived together. The article stats that some of the Possible reasons for couples to live together before marriage might include shifting norms
First of all, America has the highest divorce rate among western nations. Divorce rate increased after every major war, and decreased during the Post-World War II economic boom. The divorce rate has more than doubled since 1940, when there were two divorces for every 1,000 persons. Now for the same number of people, there are over five divorces. Studies indicate that there is more divorce among persons with low incomes and limited education and those who marry at a very young age. Teenage marriages are much more likely to end in divorce than are all other marriages. And women who marry when they are over age 30 are the least likely to become divorced. There has been a decline in divorce in the number of couples who have children under 18. Almost 45 p...
Once upon a time marriage was a requirement of society and a value to many women who wanted a stable life. It stand as a commitment to their husband and to God. It remain a way to start a proper family in the eyes the Lord. It was what many mothers and daughters dreamed of. Now that, many generations have passed many people believe marriage is not valued and Divorce rates are higher than ever. Religion has also become optional and there’re many different religions to choose from. Cohabitation has also reigned over society one doesn’t need to wait till marriage. Now you are able to move in with the person you love at any point in life. Marriage had started as a first option to many but it has become the last. There are still reasons why marriage
No one expects to divorce when they get married but nearly half of all marriages will end in divorce or separation. Divorce can be costly, with court fees and attorneys. Dr. Doherty, noted marriage scholar and therapist has determined a list of risk factors that are attributed to marital problems and divorce. The first three: Young age, less education and less income are coincidently other topics brushed upon in this paper. Impulsive decisions made by younger people to marry leads to children which leads to financial instability. Once a couple has children, they are unlikely to further their education because of lack of time. Divorce also has a negative effect on
The idea of falling in love with the right person, then marrying them, buying a home and starting a family together is exciting, however devoting your life to one person is a commitment that needs a long and hard thinking about before deciding to tie the knot. Which brings the question, what is the need for marriage? According to the United States Census Bureau the average age of first marriage in the 1950 's was 22.8 for men and 20.3 for women and now the average age is 29 for men and 27 for women ("Families and Living Arrangements"). Increasing amount of Millennials don 't want to rush into marriage, although they embrace the idea of it, they understand it to mean something less important than it did before. There are three major reasons why fewer marriages
According to Wikipedia – the free encyclopedia[4], “From 2002 to the latest survey data as of 2012,[2] 29% of first marriages among women aged 15–44 were disrupted (ended in separation, divorce or annulment) within 10 years. [3]” This is alarmingly a high rate of marriage failure. After reading the novel by Jordan Sonnenblick, “Notes From the Midnight Driver” [1], I am submitting a research paper on the topic, “Family Divorce” using the situation of the novel as an example.
It is not a new thought that today’s young Americans are facing issues, problems and difficult decisions that past generations never had to question. In a world of technology, media, and a rough economy, many young adults in America are influenced by a tidal wave of opinions and life choices without much relevant advice from older generations. The Generation Y, or Millennial, group are coming of age in a confusing and mixed-message society. One of these messages that bombard young Americans is the choice of premarital cohabitation. Premarital cohabitation, or living together without being married (Jose, O’Leary & Moyer, 2010), has increased significantly in the past couple of decades and is now a “natural” life choice before taking the plunge into marriage. Kennedy and Bumpass (2008) state that, “The increase in cohabitation is well documented,such that nearly two thirds of newlyweds have cohabited prior to their first marriage”(as cited in Harvey, 2011, p. 10), this is a striking contrast compared with statistics of our grandparents, or even parents, generations. It is such an increasing social behavior that people in society consider cohabitation “necessary” before entering into marriage. Even more, young Americans who choose not to cohabitate, for many different reasons, are looked upon as being “old-fashioned”, “naive”, or “unintelligent”. This pressure for young people to cohabitate before marriage is a serious “modern-day” challenge; especially when given research that states, “... most empirical studies find that couples who cohabited prior to marriage experience significantly higher odds of marital dissolution than their counterparts who did not cohabit before marriage”, stated by Jose (2010) and colleagues (as c...
Every year approximately 2.4 million marriages occur.Out of those,2.1 millionwill file for divorce in the United States. These marriage and divorce rates have significantly increased since the years past(Coltrane and Adams, 364).According to Schoen, in the 1950’s, 15 out of 1,000 marriages ended in divorce.In the 1970’s, the rates of divorcedoubled,increasing to 40 per 1,000 marriages. Currently, the rate of marriages resulting in divorce remains the same. Most marriages are ending within seven years ofthemarriage for multiple different reasons. Sociologists haveestablisheddivorce as a social problem from the rise in divorcerates due to the early year of marriages (2006).
Throughout the last half of the century, our society has watched the divorce rate of married couples skyrocket to numbers previously not seen. Although their has been a slight decline in divorce rates, “half of first marriages still were expected to dissolve before death.” (Stacy, 15, 1991) Whatever happened to that meaningful exchange of words, “until death do us part,” uttered by the bride and groom to each other on their wedding day? What could have been the cause of such inflated divorce rates? Perhaps young married couples are not mature enough to be engaged in such a trremendous responsibility, or, maybe, the couples really do not know each other as well as they thought. Possibly, they have been blinded by infatuation rather than by true love, or, quite simply, the couples mistakenly have different relational expectations.
There are many advantages and disadvantages in living together before marriage. Today there are many couples living together before marriage. Sometimes these kinds of relationships 'living together before marriage' end up with success and sometimes they are unsuccessful. Some of the advantages of living together before marriage are such as getting to know your partner, learning about one's abilities if he/she can satisfy your expectations and more. Also, there are some disadvantages in living together before marriage and they are such as religious and family values, parenting problems and more. I think there are more advantages then disadvantages in living together before marriage, because sometimes disadvantages in this kind of relationship are avoidable.
Today young adults aren't married as young, but their marriage doesn't last as long either. For instance, Macaulay Culkin and his ex wife married both at the age of 17, but they ended up getting a divorce with him at the age of 19 and her at the age of 20. Their marriage only lasted for 2 years after they found out that their love for each other was really just a fling. I don't think that they should have been thinking about marriage at that age and point in their lives. They both had their own busy lives which they had already planned out what they wanted to happen. I'm sure neither of them had included the part about getting married at the age of 17. 1 also think that they really weren't as ready as they thought they were. They probably figured that because they feel that they are in love that they should just go ahead and take that extra step and get married to be with each for the rest of their lives, which didn't turn out that way.
To answer the question, “How does marrying before the age of 21 and starting a family affect the relationships of the couple and children as they grow older?”, the best theoretical perspective to use is the Family Life Course Development Framework. The textbook’s definition of this perspective is that families are followed through fairly typical states in the life course, such as through marriage, childbirth, states of raising children, adult children’s leaving home, retirement, and possible widowhood (pg. 505).
The debate on whether to get married or stay single has been raging for a long while, with both sides of the coin having their own pros and cons regarding the matter. Many proponents of either marriage or single life have strong individual convictions, and it is difficult to reach a definitive objective conclusion. Is the married individual happier than his/her single counterpart, or is getting married just a comfort seeking ritual that people believe they have to fulfill at some point in their lives? It is necessary to dissect this issue in the light of four factors: health and other medical factors, the economic and finance front, mental and emotional wellbeing and lastly, the social factor.
Marriage should be a mature and responsible decision; it should be a long-lasting commitment. People seem to take this commitment all too lightly in today's generation and it leads to high rates in early marriages. I strongly claim that early marriage is a violation of children's basic rights and to making decisions about their own lives. With the standards established up to date, marriage comes with manifold responsibilities; most of them teens are not prepared to handle. Nevertheless, marriage is a matter of choice, but would not it be better to wait a couple of years, so as not to regret the consequences, and not to pay dearly for mistakes?
Statistics show that in 1998, 2,256,000 couples became married, and 1,135,000 couples became divorced (Fast 1,2). For every two couples getting married, there is one that is getting divorced. In fact, half of ALL marriages end in divorce (Ayer 41). That is a sad reality to face. Those percentage rates increase as the age of the participant’s decrease. It seems these days, fewer and fewer teens between the ages of 14 and 18 are getting married. This is a change for the better. Teens are usually not prepared for marriage. Marriage comes with many responsibilities; most of which teens are not prepared to handle. “Early marriage, though possessing certain inherent dangers, is widely practiced in contemporary America” (Teenage 1). Even if teens feel they have the potential for a lasting marriage, they should still wait to become married.