More 20 to 30 Somethings Are Getting Divorced ...

More 20 to 30 Somethings Are Getting Divorced ...

even though less are getting married

I read an article recently that had a lot to say about the future of marriage as an institution.

According to statistics cited in the story, the number of 20-somethings who have never been married rose sharply between 2000 and 2006, and has continued to rise since. Among both men and women, the number of people in their 20s who had never been married increased nine percent over that initial six-year span. And yet, divorce amongst this age group is on the rise. Go figure?

But it's the actual percentages that are particularly interesting: 73 percent of men and 63 percent of women weren't married before age 30.

There are a lot of reasons why this is happening. Perhaps a fear of divorce has something to do with it, but the piece mentioned one possible reason is that it's becoming more and more difficult for 20-somethings to achieve financial independence. And with the housing market the way it is, that's only likely to continue.

But it also seems pretty clear that attitudes about marriage are shifting among young adults. Think about it: How many people do you know who haven't done the "live together" thing? A lot of young couples see that as a necessary step before deciding to get married.

Of course, as I've mentioned before, you can go round and round eight ways to Sunday with statistics. Let's say you live with someone for a couple of years and then the relationship ends. To me, that's just like going through a divorce, at least from an emotional standpoint — but it doesn't count as a divorce (even though someday I'd like to see the stats on people who have lived with someone out of wedlock and split up, because I consider them divorced too).

In any case, even though divorce among 20-somethings continues to rise, it'll be interesting to know whether there will be fewer divorces among people who wait until their 30s to get married.