Marriage Just an ‘Option’ for Americans, Many Prefer to Stay Single: Study

The U.S. marriage rate dropped to 31.1 percent, the lowest in the past 100 years, a study done by Family Profile from the National Center for Family and Marriage Research (NCFMR) at Bowling Green State University, stated.

An analysis of various data showed that the marriage rate steadily declined from 1979 by 60 percent. This is a drastic fall from the year 1920 when the marriage rate was 92.3 percent.

"Marriage is no longer compulsory," Dr Susan Brown, co-director of NCFMR, said in press release. "It's just one of an array of options. Increasingly, many couples choose to cohabit and still others prefer to remain single."

The decline was among all racial and ethnic groups, but the highest drop in marriages was seen among African-Americans. Also, the research found that in the last five decades, there was a just modest change in the percentage of women getting married among the college educated and the greatest decline was seen among women without a high school diploma.

The study also found that women wait till their late-twenties for their first marriage. Average age of women during their first marriage is 27. "The age at first marriage for women and men is at a historic highpoint and has been increasing at a steady pace," said Dr Wendy Manning, co-director of NCFMR.

The number of divorced or separated women too has increased over time. According to the study, just one percent of women were either divorced or separated in the 1920s, but at present the number shot up to 15 percent. "The divorce rate remains high in the U.S., and individuals today are less likely to remarry than they were in the past," said Dr Brown.

The researchers studied the data gathered from the National Vital Statistics "100 Years of Marriage and Divorce Statistics United States 1867-1967," the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/National Center for Health Statistics, and the U.S. Census Bureau.