Do Devout Catholics get married earlier than the general population

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Do they? I know that right now the average age 29 and 27 but is it lower for devout catholics? I know that among my catholic friends there were quite a few married by 23 but then I do know many who aren’t. Still though, I feel that as a devout Catholic myself, i’m kind of an anomaly (25, single, no long term relationships). So are there stats on this? I know it seems like in other Christian circles that there were friends of mine married by 21 and still in college.
 
I am experiencing the opposite of you. Many Catholics in my area married notoriously young, 17 and 18. The local Newman Center is almost exclusively filled with married couples. However most Catholics I know who are serious about following the Church’s teaching on Humanae Vitae tend to get married much later, probably because how hard it is to find another devout Catholic to marry. Most couples in my area with the big 5+ families are actually the ones who married late in life.

I think it depends on your geography more than anything.
 
Irish Catholics have the highest age of marriage in the western world. They used to be very devout. I don’t know if the age is changing now because of less power of the church in Ireland. They waited because they wanted to get it right the first time.
 
Naskor said:
I am experiencing the opposite of you. Many Catholics in my area married notoriously young, 17 and 18. The local Newman Center is almost exclusively filled with married couples. However most Catholics I know who are serious about following the Church’s teaching on Humanae Vitae tend to get married much later, probably because how hard it is to find another devout Catholic to marry. Most couples in my area with the big 5+ families are actually the ones who married late in life.

I think it depends on your geography more than anything.
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Okay where do you live. I don’t see anywhere in the US where there is a lot of marriage at 17-18-19 years of age. I guess part of what skews my view is that I live in a more conservative area of the US so while it is less common to marry at 22-23 the,re are a significant minority who do. Overall around here 25-26 is most common.
 
Our relationship was and is God-centered since courting . We married when I was 22 and he was 28. :love: I already knew it was my vocation to get married way before I met him. Through God and prayer, we knew we were made for each other.
 
We weren’t especially “devout,” but we were more religious than many people our age. We were married at 24 (him) and 23 (me). Now that we are fully practicing Catholics, and with some more life experience, I often think how silly it was for us to wait. We could have married at 22 and 21 (the ages we were when we graduated from college) and been just fine. 🤷

(We began dating at 19/18.)

I think if two people have their heads screwed on straight, they know that they want to be married, and can manage independent living, then they can probably figure out marriage. I do think it’s rarer that people are capable of that at younger ages than it was in past generations, but maybe that’s more prevalent among parents who make a serious effort to teach their children well (whether or not that teaching includes religion.)
 
The general consensus is that age of first marriage is rising for the same reason that the number of young adults still living with their parents is rising. When fewer people are getting secure living-wage jobs, fewer people will move out of their parents’ homes and therefore fewer will marry.

Being a devout Catholic supplies both reasons to wait and reasons to marry sooner, so I wouldn’t even guess what the relationship between that and the age of the first marriage, excepting that non-religious couples are more likely to live together without marrying at all.
 
No clue. But I do think that one’s culture has a lot to do with it.
 
UbiCaritas15 said:
We got married at 32 and 30… 😃
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Thirty two and thirty is about the “norm” these days. I have heard that most people who attend professional school (i.e. academics with PhDs., doctors, and lawyers) will usually marry between 30 and 36. I’ve heard if a man isn’t married by 43, he will probably never marry at all, and if a man or a woman isn’t married by 37, I’ve heard the chances of getting married decrease by one-third).

Today, I think the average age for marriage among Catholics has increased, with many of the reasons mentioned here. Honestly, most attorneys that I know did not get married (for the first and only time, both men and women) until they were 35, 38, 40, and 42. It’s because it’s a demanding profession, and with law school loans being what they are, many lawyers are forced to put in billable hours at a firm.

I do think some of the good Catholic Student Centers at colleges (i.e. Newman Centers) are good places for men and women to find a suitable Catholic mate. The Catholic Student Center at Texas A&M has been very successful in this area, with many marriages being fruitful, and supporting the Church of today. In March, I attended a reunion and was greatly impressed. Many had three or more children.

Honestly, I don’t know what places have a high percentage of early marriages before 25, but I do know that sadly, Catholic marriages have significantly dropped off in the past 10-15 years, much of it due to the attack on marriage. I also see that people have a fear of commitment as well, much of it due to the high rate of divorce and demands on careers and finances. There’s also unfortunately a “keeping up with the Joneses” mentality, even in some parochial atmospheres.
 
In relation to marriage, here is a great article about Ave Maria University. Out of 194 graduates in May 2014, 22 were engaged to a classmate. Since the university has been in existence, literally one out of five married a classmate.

This is encouraging news. Several critics say that the “hookup culture” is NOT around Ave Maria University, which has REALLY help encourage a suitable environment for dating and courtship. A woman can feel comfortable with a man expressing sincere interest in just getting to know a woman, without it meaning something else.

Here is the article:

cardinalnewmansociety.org/CatholicEducationDaily/DetailsPage/tabid/102/ArticleID/3268/Ave-Maria-Students-Getting-Married-Share-Family-Values-President-Says.aspx
 
hwriggles4 said:
In relation to marriage, here is a great article about Ave Maria University. Out of 194 graduates in May 2014, 22 were engaged to a classmate. Since the university has been in existence, literally one out of five married a classmate.

This is encouraging news. Several critics say that the “hookup culture” is NOT around Ave Maria University, which has REALLY help encourage a suitable environment for dating and courtship. A woman can feel comfortable with a man expressing sincere interest in just getting to know a woman, without it meaning something else.

Here is the article:

cardinalnewmansociety.org/CatholicEducationDaily/DetailsPage/tabid/102/ArticleID/3268/Ave-Maria-Students-Getting-Married-Share-Family-Values-President-Says.aspx
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While that is good news, there has to be a broader solution for all young Catholics, as most go to vocational schools, state schools, secular schools, etc.
 
Havard said:
While that is good news, there has to be a broader solution for all young Catholics, as most go to vocational schools, state schools, secular schools, etc.
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I think that having a good catholic student center or even a good nearby Catholic parish can help most people. Even then though, I wonder what is out there to help those out of college. To me it feels sometimes like guys and girls are just told it will happen, but I get a little negative about it. Granted I’m in kind of the rare situation where I took a job in a smaller town and there aren’t really that many prospects if any at all.
 
EasterJoy said:
The general consensus is that age of first marriage is rising for the same reason that the number of young adults still living with their parents is rising. When fewer people are getting secure living-wage jobs, fewer people will move out of their parents’ homes and therefore fewer will marry.

Being a devout Catholic supplies both reasons to wait and reasons to marry sooner, so I wouldn’t even guess what the relationship between that and the age of the first marriage, excepting that non-religious couples are more likely to live together without marrying at all.
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That explains why it is high today and why age of marriage has historically been in the 20s.
 
I also think that in addition to loans, people are living longer and 20s have become more of a time to figure out who you are. I don’t think that it is too bad for people to wait to get married. My parents married in their twenties but the fact that they are still together is an exception rather than the rule. The divorce rate is rather high for couples who marry early. I’d advise most people to wait to get married and figure out who you are and what you want in life. The fact that people are marrying later isn’t a bad thing and it is something that both religious and secular people should follow.
 
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