Marriages are always evolving. What was once considered taboo is now more acceptable, and vice versa. Traditional values are being thrown out the window in favour of more modern ones. This article will explore some of the current marriage trends to watch out for in 2022.
More couples are living together prior to marriage
In the past, couples would wait until they were married to move in together. Nowadays, however, more and more couples are choosing to cohabitate before tying the knot.
In fact, a study by Domain.com.au found that 79.4% of Australians were now living together before marriage.
There are a number of reasons for this shift. For one, living together gives couples a chance to test out their compatibility before making a lifetime commitment. It also allows them to save up money for their wedding and potentially buy a house together down the road.
While there are some benefits to living together before marriage, there are also some risks. Couples who live together before marriage are more likely to divorce than those who don’t (ABS, 2020). Nevertheless, this trend looks like it’s here to stay.
More couples are getting married later in life
The median age for first-time marriages has been steadily rising over the past few decades. In 1970, the median age for men was 23.4 and for women was 20.9 (Aifs.gov.au, 2022). In 2020, it was 30.6 for men and 29.3 for women (Aifs.gov.au, 2022).
There are a number of factors driving this trend. For one thing, people are staying in school longer than they used to. They’re also pursuing their careers for a longer period of time before settling down and getting married.
In addition, many people are simply not in a hurry to get married anymore. They want to make sure they’ve found the right person and that they’re financially stable before taking such a big step. Whatever the reasons may be, this trend doesn’t appear to be going anywhere anytime soon.
Fewer people are getting married overall
The number of marriages in Australia has been on the decline since 2009. In 2020, there were 78,989 marriages, which is down 30.6% from the previous year.
There are a number of factors driving this trend as well. For one thing, people are waiting longer to get married as we already discussed. In addition, fewer people are getting married because they simply don’t see the need for it anymore.
With cohabitation becoming more acceptable and divorce rates remaining high — which necessitates the need for divorce courts and family lawyers — many people feel like there’s no point in getting married if it’s just going to end in divorce anyways (Carr & Lambert-Powell, 2016). It remains to be seen whether this trend will continue or if more people will start getting married again in the years to come. Only time will tell.
Summary
Marriage trends come and go but some manage to stick around for longer and become part of the new normal so to speak. The three marriage trends explored in this blog post — living together prior to marriage, getting married later in life, and fewer people getting married overall — all look like they’re here to stay based on current data and research. So if you’re thinking about getting married anytime soon, it pays to be prepared for these changes.
Author: Marshall Thurlow
