Couples in love have often wondered: When is the right time to get married? Of course, the answer varies from couple to couple because some things have to be taken into consideration first — things like social changes, financial status, and emotional and physical wellbeing.
But generally, University of Utah sociologist Nicholas Wolfinger told Mirror that tying the knot in one's late 20s or early 30s boosts the chances for marital bliss and reduces the chances of divorce. He was able to make this conclusion after studying the National Survey of Family Growth data.
"For years, it seemed like the longer you waited to marry, the better," he said. "That's because the relationship between age at marriage and divorce risk was almost linear: The older you were, the lower the chances of divorce."
However, Wolfinger presented a caveat: Those who decide to marry in their late 30s or beyond raises the chances of divorce.
"Although teens still face an elevated divorce risk relative to older adults, my analysis of more recent data shows that those who tie the knot after their early thirties are now more likely to divorce than those who marry in their late twenties," he shared.
Wolfinger said ideally, people have to get married before turning 32. But after reaching that age, the risk for divorce increases year after year.
"My data analysis shows that prior to age 32 or so, each additional year of age at marriage reduces the odds of divorce by 11 percent. However, after that, the odds of divorce increase by 5 percent per year," he said.
Wolfinger has a couple of theories why this is so. He said those who choose to marry way beyond the age of 32 might be reluctant to get married in the first place. Because they aren't eager to spend the rest of their lives with their partner, the risk for divorce is quite high.
"Such people naturally have trouble with interpersonal relationships. Consequently they delay marriage, often because they can't find anyone willing to marry them. When they do tie the knot, their marriages are automatically at high risk for divorce," he said.
