Virginia Family Law Attorneys Examine Millennial Marriages

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“Millennial” has become a buzzword. Advertising teams are pooling resources to understand what millennials want to buy, and media outlets are reporting on how millennials eat, sleep, and relate to one another. As millennials reach marriageable age, enough data has emerged to reveal their strategy towards marriage.

Marriage Trends Among Millennials

While most people in the United States eventually get married, each generation has seen a slow increase in the percentage of people who never marry. Millennials are no exception, and in fact, the decline in marriage rates for this generation may be even sharper than in previous generations.

Economic Factors Contributing to Marriage Decline

There are many reasons for cultural changes, including fluctuating marriage rates. One significant factor is the recent economic recession. For many young adults, marriage dropped lower on the list of priorities during this time. The focus shifted to securing a steady job that could pay the bills, a more immediate concern. Although the economy has since recovered, marriage rates among young adults have been slow to follow suit. Given that the decline began before the recession, it’s possible that marriage rates may never return to pre-recession levels.

Generational Differences in Marriage Rates

The decline in marriage rates is not uniform across all age groups. Younger millennials are significantly less likely to marry in their 20s compared to previous generations. In contrast, Generation X was more likely to marry after the age of 36.

Current data suggests that only 69.3% of women born in the United States will be married by the age of 40, which indicates that marriage rates may continue to remain lower than in past decades.

Interracial Marriage and Cultural Shifts

One notable trend among millennials is their higher rate of interracial marriage compared to previous generations. This may be due to millennials growing up in a cultural environment that embraced racial equality to an unprecedented degree.

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