Wedding bells ringing later in life

Census shows people are staying single longer:

"2006 census data released earlier this month show that people are continuing to wait longer and longer to get married for the first time. In New York state, the median age for that rite of passage now stands at 29.4 years old for men and 27.7 years old for women, making the ages here two years older than the national median.

By comparison, in the 1950s, the median age nationwide was 22 for men and 20 for women.

Reasons for this upward creep, which began about 30 years ago, are many, but most people point to cohabitation prior to marriage as the primary factor."

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Silver anniversary becomes rarer milestone

"A U.S. Census Bureau study released yesterday reported that more than half of the American marriages consummated in the late 1970s failed to survive 25 years.

It was the first time since at least World War II that the Census Bureau reported that most marriages dissolved before reaching their silver anniversary."

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In marital disputes, silence isn't golden

Why openness in communication is important:

Study finds that wives who don't express themselves increase risk of illness

Should marriages only last 7 years?

At least one German politician thinks they should. Gabriele Pauli, a Bavarian politician representing the Christian Social Union (CSU), says she wants marriage to expire after seven years. After that time, couples should either agree to extend their marriage or it should be automatically dissolved.

The news is causing quite a stir in Catholic circles in Germany. Pauli, 50 years old and twice-divorced, says "This is about bringing ideas into the CSU and starting a discussion."

Well, that's certainly true.

Building a successful marriage is hard work, but worth the effort

A woman reflects on important themes in her 30+ year marriage.

Column

Column: Living together is no substitute for the knot

Columnist Tina Griego of the Rocky Mountain News:

"My husband and I moved in together with the assumption we would marry one day. I saw it as something like marriage with training wheels. Once we took those wheels off, the transition would be easy. On this last matter, I was wrong.... I think five years cohabitation not only failed to prepare us more for marriage, it might have made us less prepared. It might have made the transition harder."

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Retirement And Marriage

Forbes reports on a study examining transitions in retirement involving 534 married couples in their 50s, 60s or 70s who were retired or about to retire from several large businesses in upstate New York.

"Husbands and wives reported greater marital satisfaction if they retired at the same time. While men with nonworking spouses had greater marital satisfaction than those with working wives, regardless of whether the men themselves worked, those men who didn't work but had a working spouse reported the most marital conflict."

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Marriage Breakdown: Expensive and Divisive

Report Shows Big Downside to Family Disintegration

Work out religious differences before marriage

Good Q&A on interfaith issues, including this funny bit:

"We know it's theoretically possible for a passionate Boston Red Sox fan to marry a passionate New York Yankees fan. It's just that we've never actually seen it happen. We don't mean to trivialize your problem, only to patiently and humbly suggest that you do not simply hope that differences that are tearing you apart now will somehow be magically resolved in the future."

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Researchers Study Why Divorce Rate is Dropping

Some interesting info:

Dr. Janet Belsky, professor of psychology at Middle Tennessee State University, polled her students and results show that they are very well aware of the divorce statistics and they do not want to become part of them. They want to choose the right marriage partner and make the marriage last. One change she has seen develop over the years is that more and more of the students do put marriage as the first thing on their list of things to do. Their thoughts are shifting to getting themselves established in their chosen field as their first priority.

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Pope encourages youth to change world through marriage

The Pope told 300,000 Catholic youths in Loreto, Italy, to "discover the beauty of love, not a disposable love, passenger and prisoner of an egoistic and materialistic mentality, but a deep and true love," on the eve of a pilgrimage to a shrine of the Virgin Mary on Sunday.

Pope Benedict said he believed that the "dream" of accomplishing this sort of love between a man and woman, in choosing marriage and starting a family, was "harder and harder to accomplish today".

But he called on his audience to persevere without being discouraged by the "crisis that touches our families today", such as separation and divorce."

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Marriage: A Vocation to Holiness

Excellent column on marriage as a vocation. Story