The age Americans marry continues to move higher. Our grandparents on both sides married young, like many in their generation. Roy’s grandfather was 18 and grandmother 16 when they married in 1930s. Today the average marrying age is at record highs: 27 for women and 29 for men.

Some studies have suggested that waiting to marry late leads to women having a higher income and an overall lower divorce rates. Other studies suggest that comfortableness with making solitary decisions creates more tension as the couple begins their lives together.   And what about those who marry really early? Studies reveal that marriages at the age of 18 are twice as likely to end in divorce than those beginning at 22 or older.

Longer Adolescence

Adolescence is a relatively new phenomenon described in the mid 1900s as the period between the onset of puberty and when the person accepts adult responsibilities, like marriage. For centuries, the onset of puberty led to marriage and the beginning of families. As America became more industrialized, formal education lengthened and this period began to grow in length.

One of the challenges of the current reality is that the age of pubescence continues to decrease. Over the last 100 years, the onset of puberty has moved from an average of 17 years old to a new low of 13 years old. More 10 year olds are experiencing the onset of puberty in America than ever before.   That means that the average American is in adolescence for 15 years.

The Purity Challenge

For Christians who strive for sexual purity, this lengthy adolescence is a long period of temptation and struggle. God built our bodies to desire sex during this time period. And he blesses it within the confines of the marriage bed only.   The Apostle Paul commends Christians to “… go ahead and get married. It is much better to marry than to be obsessed by sexual urges.”

“To those who are unmarried or widowed, here’s my advice: it is a good thing to stay single as I do. If they do not have self-control, they should go ahead and get married. It is much better to marry than to be obsessed by sexual urges.”  I Corinthians  7:8, 9 (VOICE)

Benefits of Marrying Young

1. Better Sex Life. Couples who marry in their 20s have more frequent sex than couples who marry later. One researcher found that every four years you want to marry leads to an average of one less sexual encounter per month over the course of your marriage. Instead of struggling with urges, or engaging in premarital sex that will influence your future marital relationships, couples who marry early enjoy their sexual development together.   In general, research reveals that married couples have more sex than those not married, and that sexual satisfaction is highest within marriage than those single or cohabitating.
2. Grow Up Together. You may not have all of the answers in life, but you will work with your spouse to find your answers together. Your history of learning about what you really enjoy and dislike in your career, neighborhood, church, etc. will be with your spouse instead of deciding those things before you marry and having to compromise later on.
3. Be Happy. People between the ages of 20 and 28 who are married rate themselves as “very happy” significantly more than people who are single or cohabitating. Couples who married between 22 and 25 expressed the highest quality of life.
4. More Money. Men who married in their 20s have the highest level of personal income than men who were single or married later. For decades now research has shown that married men make more than single men, and married couples net worth is higher than singles and cohabitating couples.
5. Less Drama. Between the ages of 20 and 28, married couples engage in less risk-taking behavior than singles and cohabitating couples. This includes use of drugs and alcohol and activities that lead to involvement with law enforcement. In fact married couples are overall better health and take care of themselves better than their single and cohabitating cohorts.

If you are young and think that you have found the right one, we want to encourage you to get into a couples class or workshop and invest in the health of your relationship before you say “I do.” Visit with a pastor, a few veterans of marriage, a Christian marriage counselor or coach, or give us a call. We want to see you have a healthy marriage!

We always love to hear from our readers. What other benefits are there to marrying young? What advice would you give young couples considering marriage?

This article was written by Roy and Devra Wooten, authors of “The Secret to a Lifetime Love”. Learn more at www.LifeTogetherForever.com © Roy and Devra Wooten 2015. All Rights Reserved. You may replicate this article as long as it is provided free to recipients and includes appropriate attribution. Written permission for other use may be obtained at [email protected].