People Marrying Later, Tías Everywhere Weep

Census figures indicate that people are increasingly marrying later in their lives, which if your family is anything like mine, means that tías and abuelitas across the country are beginning to worry that the world is about to end. According to Boston.com:

The median age at first marriage last year was 28 years for men, and 26 for women, up slightly from 2009. The rising age reflects a long-term trend. In 1980, the median age for men was just under 25, and 22 for women.

Since 1986, the proportion of women ages 25 to 29 who have never married has increased sharply, from 27 percent to 47 percent.

The national findings come from “Number, Timing and Duration of Marriages and Divorces: 2009,” a study released today. The Census collected marital history data from 39,000 households.

The Census report included more information about marriage in the United States, from a press release:

• First marriages that ended in divorce lasted a median of eight years for men and women. The median time from marriage to separation was shorter — about seven years.
• Half of men and women in all the race and Hispanic-origin groups who remarried after divorcing from their first marriage did so within about four years.
• For all groups of women 25 and older, the majority had married, as had the majority of men 30 and older.
• About one in five men and women ages 50 to 69 had married twice.
• Among people 70 and older, 23 percent of men and 51 percent of women had been widowed, and most were still widowed and had not remarried at the time of the survey.
• A higher proportion of the recently married in 2009 were Hispanic than in 1996. While one in 10 recently married adults was Hispanic in 1996, this increased to one in five by 2009.
• A higher proportion of recently married women had at least a bachelor’s degree in 2009 (31 percent) than in 1996 (21 percent).
• Changes in the percentage of women who never married between 1986 and 2009 suggest that a higher percentage of black women than white non-Hispanic women may never marry.

In conclusion and as I’ve written before, it’s probable that more Latinos and Latinas than ever are waiting to get their educations or careers going before marrying and/or making babies. Ultimately, I think that’s a good thing, although I cannot say the same thing for my abuelita.

Follow Sara Inés Calderón on Twitter @SaraChicaD