Young adults today are delaying marriage until they feel the "time is right." That time, however, seems rather elusive.
USA Today reports the median age for marriage is the oldest since the U.S. Census Bureau started keeping track in the 1890s: almost 26 for women and almost 28 for men.
Researchers, sociologists and family experts are taking a closer look at the attitudes behind the trend.
A study being drafted by sociologist Norval Glenn of the University of Texas at Austin finds those who marry in the early to mid-20s are slightly happier and less likely to break up than those who marry in the later 20s, and are significantly more satisfied with their relationships than those who marry at 30 or older.
Steve Watters, director of young adults at Focus on the Family, said: “One reason couples may be delaying marriage is because today’s young men often lack the kind of modeling and coaching they once were able to count on from dads, mentors and pastors.
"When they do find advice about relationships, it's often spectacularly bad."
To make up for that deficit, Focus on the Family has produced a digital booklet called “A Guy’s Guide to Marrying Well.” The guide is based on timeless concepts such as intentionality, purity, Christian compatibility and community.
"We hope that by making this guide free and easy to access that we’ll be able to help more men marry well — and that we might even see a reversal in trends toward marital delay," Watters said.
Dr. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Focus on the Family board member, has said the delay of marriage presents the Church with a critical test.
"We will either recover a full and comprehensive biblical vision of marriage in all of its glory," he writes, "or we will soon find believers so accommodated to the culture around us that all we seek in our marriages is to do marginally better than what we see in the world."
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Check out the free "Guy’s Guide to Marrying Well."
