In the United States, most people can get married when they turn 18. It used to be very common for people to get married shortly after high school, in their late teens or their early 20s. Some high school couples would get married before one of them went off to join the military at 18, for example.
However, these young marriages have an incredibly high divorce rate. This is part of the reason, perhaps, that Baby Boomers are the one generation with a rising divorce rate, even now. Generational trends have shifted and most couples now get married around 30 years old; teen marriages are now exceptionally rare. This means that many modern marriages are a bit more stable than they were for past generations, and divorce is less likely.
How the decline works
Researchers have studied this phenomenon, looking at couples’ ages when they got married and their odds of divorce. Those odds are highest if the couple was 18 at the wedding. Every year after that, the odds of divorce will drop by 12%. This means that the marriage would be significantly more stable if they waited until they turned 25, for example.
But there’s a point right around age 32 where the trend switches. Couples that continue waiting to get married see their divorce odds go back up by 5% every year once they are older than 32.
Your legal rights during a divorce
Regardless of the age at which you got married, you may find yourself facing an upcoming divorce. If so, take the time to look into all of your legal rights and the steps that you’ll need to take while navigating this process.
