Age at marriage, college and earnings for women

[Xantippe]

Here’s an old article (2013) that’s new to me and also sheds some interesting light on family issues.

theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2013/03/getting-married-later-is-great-for-college-educated-women/274040/

I agree with some of the commentors on the article that it may be a correlation rather than cuasation, but even so, just the correlations are interesting. I see it as there being two primary tracks now for women in the US: the early non-marital childbearing poverty track and the college/delayed marriage/non-poverty track.

Some snippets from the article:

“Americans are getting married later and later. The average age of first marriage in the United States is 27 for women and 29 for men, up from 23 for women and 26 for men in 1990 and 20 and 22 (!) in 1960.”

“College-educated women have largely benefited from marrying later; other demographic groups, however, are having a harder time adjusting to the rising marriage age.”

“Women who marry later make more money per year than women who marry young. The average annual personal income for college-educated women in their mid-30s who married after age 30 is $50,415, compared with $32,263 for college-educated women of the same age who married before age 20–a 56 percent difference. Female high-school graduates who attended some college also enjoy higher wages if they wait to marry, though the gap is not as wide: Those who marry after 30 earn $22,286 a year by their mid-30s, while those who marry before 20 earn $18,234, a 22 percent difference.”

“Financially, men of all education levels benefit from marrying earlier Men who marry in their 20s make more money by their mid-30s than men who marry after 30, regardless of education level.”

Now that is VERY interesting.

“College-educated women are unlikely to have a child before getting married For college-educated women, the average age of first birth (30) has risen along with the average age of marriage (27). Only 12 percent of births by college graduates are to unmarried women.”

“Women without college degrees are very likely to have a child before getting married”

“For women who dropped out of high school, the average age of first birth is 20, while the average marriage age is 25; 83 percent of first births in this demographic are to unmarried mothers. For women who graduated from high school and went to some college, the average age for first birth is 24 and the average marriage age is 27; 58 percent of first births are to unwed mothers.”

“Couples who are not married when they have children are far more likely to split up When couples are married when their first child is born, there’s a 13 percent chance they’ll separate within the first five year’s of the child’s life. When couples are cohabitating, their chances of breaking up within that period are 39 percent.”

It likes the source for the data is the report “Knot Yet: The Benefits and Costs of Delayed Marriage in America.”

Here’s the link for the report:

twentysomethingmarriage.org/

 

[BlueEyedLady]

It is a problem that isn’t talked about much, but the fact is that those who would benefit the most from marriage don’t marry and stay married at even close to the same rate as middle and upper middle class people. This is bad for children, single parents, and society as a whole.

High schools focus a lot on college prep. But for those students who won’t be going on to college, we need to do a better job of preparing them to make responsible decisions as adults.

 

[Jay82]

Thanks for sharing this article/report as it is very insightful. I read your excerpts and didn’t get to go through the information included in the links fully.

Some things you mention jump out at me.

1. “Financially, men of all education levels benefit from marrying earlier Men who marry in their 20s make more money by their mid-30s than men who marry after 30, regardless of education level.”

This is interesting, but after thinking about it, it doesn’t surprise me too much. Men who settle down sooner will be more career focused and serious about life goals and reaching them vs single men who may be more careless or out to just have fun. The repercussions for slacking or failure for a father/husband are much higher than a single man. Over time, the efforts between the two demographics will/may result in a earnings gap.

“Women without college degrees are very likely to have a child before getting married”

This is a great book that examines why poor women have children prior to getting married:
amazon.com/Promises-Can-Keep-Motherhood-Marriage/dp/0520241134
To sum up some of the key points, many of these poor women do not have a bright future to look forward to and do not have a pool of responsible men to select a husband from. Although many do want to get married and hope to be married. However, during the earlier years, a lot of their self worth and “success” isn’t going to be measured by education/earnings, but how they raise a child and how that child does. Therefore, being a mother is paramount and unfortunately it is largely done outside of marriage. They put off marriage because of the lack of good men in their social / economic level and put off marriage so they can determine if a man is going to be faithful, stay away from crime, drugs, etc. Sadly that isn’t always the case. These women often times end up getting married as they get older. It is a fascinating read and I recommend it.

“College-educated women have largely benefited from marrying later; other demographic groups, however, are having a harder time adjusting to the rising marriage age.”

I know quite a lot of women putting off marriage to either finish graduate degrees, get a solid career going or other professional reasons.

 

[Xantippe]

Thanks for sharing this article/report as it is very insightful.

**Thanks! I also often recommend Kay Hymowitz’s book “Marriage and Caste in America: Separate and Unequal Families in a Post-Marital Age” (2006), which is very good on the modern history of marriage and divorce in the US. It’s been a while since I’ve read it, but as I recall, there was a wave of social experimentation in all classes in the US starting around the 1970s, but at some point, middle class and upper middle class families realized the experiment was not a success. I can’t remember if Hymowitz talks about this, but from other reading and personal experience, the dominant American middle class/upper middle class model is of high-investment in children and a high degree of collaboration between spouses–it’s a very demanding model, but it’s largely successful.
**

This is a great book that examines why poor women have children prior to getting married:
amazon.com/Promises-Can-Keep-Motherhood-Marriage/dp/0520241134
To sum up some of the key points, many of these poor women do not have a bright future to look forward to and do not have a pool of responsible men to select a husband from. Although many do want to get married and hope to be married. However, during the earlier years, a lot of their self worth and “success” isn’t going to be measured by education/earnings, but how they raise a child and how that child does. Therefore, being a mother is paramount and unfortunately it is largely done outside of marriage. They put off marriage because of the lack of good men in their social / economic level and put off marriage so they can determine if a man is going to be faithful, stay away from crime, drugs, etc. Sadly that isn’t always the case. These women often times end up getting married as they get older. It is a fascinating read and I recommend it.

**I’ve heard about the book many times, but I finally put it in my Amazon cart. Thanks for the reminder!

Another thought that comes to mind is that in poor families, in the case of a break up or divorce, child support will come or not come regardless of marital status, and there are not going to be any assets to speak of. However, in middle class/upper middle class families, there are much more likely to be substantial assets (house, cars, retirement savings, other savings, etc.), so child support is just one part of the picture.

That theory may make women sound mercenary (not marrying where there are no assets, marrying where there are or will be assets), but in practice, having a financially stable and secure home contributes a lot to peace and happiness at home.
**

I know quite a lot of women putting off marriage to either finish graduate degrees, get a solid career going or other professional reasons.

 

[phil19034]

It is a problem that isn’t talked about much, but the fact is that those who would benefit the most from marriage don’t marry and stay married at even close to the same rate as middle and upper middle class people. This is bad for children, single parents, and society as a whole.

High schools focus a lot on college prep. But for those students who won’t be going on to college, we need to do a better job of preparing them to make responsible decisions as adults.

I think the problem here is three fold:

1. Organized religion used to play a major role in helping children become responsive adults, but today approx. only 20-30% of people attend religious services on a regular basis. While it is technically possible to learn at home and elsewhere, through history, this happened via religion and religion was pretty good at doing it.
2. Parts of celebrity culture currently celebrates irresponsible decisions. From DUIs to Sex Tapes, it seems like some celebrities (who are always in the tabloids) are celebrated for their irresponsible decisions.
3. The baby boomer generation has created a culture of entitlement which started with them, but now is becoming toxic. Young people feel entitled, even the ones who don’t finish high school.

 

[Estevao]

Alright better step up the search for the wife.

 

[Abundant]

I personally think that a lot of women “give up,” when they have a child and the men are not as supportive as they could (should?) be. I got married 1 month after turning 20. We got pregnant 3 months later. I continued to work full time and pursue my college degree even though I was married and had a child. We are still married, almost 13 years later. I am working on a Master’s degree now, just had my 3rd child and earn six figures not including my husband’s income. Was it hard? Yes. There were nights where I was literally nursing a baby and writing a paper at the same time and then getting us all in bed so I could go to work the next morning. However, my husband has always been incredibly supportive about me educating myself and would help in any way possible with the kids. I think that young girls look to their husband and children to provide themselves with a sense of self-worth or worse…identity. Really, they should be looking to Christ and who He is calling them to be at any given time. I do not expect my husband to fulfill me. Only God can do that. But we, as husband and wife, are on this journey together and I do expect him to help our family and that may mean by helping me do more for the family. In order for women to step up, the men need to step up too. That’s just my 2 cents.

 

[BlueEyedLady]

I think the problem here is three fold:

1. Organized religion used to play a major role in helping children become responsive adults, but today approx. only 20-30% of people attend religious services on a regular basis. While it is technically possible to learn at home and elsewhere, through history, this happened via religion and religion was pretty good at doing it.
2. Parts of celebrity culture currently celebrates irresponsible decisions. From DUIs to Sex Tapes, it seems like some celebrities (who are always in the tabloids) are celebrated for their irresponsible decisions.
3. The baby boomer generation has created a culture of entitlement which started with them, but now is becoming toxic. Young people feel entitled, even the ones who don’t finish high school.

Personally, I think a lot of it is the economic reality of the world we live in. Most families need two wage earners, and if you want a decent wage, you usually need at least 4 years of college-and all of the accompanying debt. The landscape just changed so rapidly.

Its been my observation as well that women take one of two paths: college and delayed marriage and children; or no college, early pregnancy, no husband, and a minimum wage job.

People in the military still tend to marry young, but they have a steady income and are usually able to avoid debt.

 

[phil19034]

Personally, I think a lot of it is the economic reality of the world we live in. Most families need two wage earners, and if you want a decent wage, you usually need at least 4 years of college-and all of the accompanying debt. The landscape just changed so rapidly.

Its been my observation as well that women take one of two paths: college and delayed marriage and children; or no college, early pregnancy, no husband, and a minimum wage job.

People in the military still tend to marry young, but they have a steady income and are usually able to avoid debt.

I agree. However, I was referring to the comments about the people who don’t go to college.