Wednesday, July 3, 2002
Utah bucks trend of men delaying marital commitments
A story published today by the Salt Lake Tribune reports that a new study says that men are increasingly likely to put off marriage. The desire to enjoy the single life as long as possible is the least of the excuses, according to the report from The National Marriage Project at Rutgers State University in New Jersey.
The top reasons:
- They can get sex without marriage more easily than in the past.
- Women are more willing to cohabitate.
- They fear divorce and its financial risks.
- They fear marriage will require too many changes and compromises.
- The perfect soul mate hasn't appeared yet.
-They want to own a house and be financially secure before marrying.
"The good news is that men who marry later may be more financially stable and emotionally mature," said David Popenoe, co-director of the National Marriage Project. "The bad news is that they may be more inflexible and less able to make the compromises needed in marriage and family life."
In Utah -- where a majority of the population claims at least nominal membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- it's largely a different story.
The age of first marriage for men has increased only by a year, from 22 to 23, since the '60s. And it has held steady at age 21 for women.
"The biggest single difference in Utah is more reluctance to enter a sexual relationship without being married," said Tim Heaton, a sociology professor at Brigham Young University in Provo. That said, Heaton has noted a "clear pattern" of delaying marriage among the Mormon population he studies.
As for the national trend, the Rutgers researchers say it is bad news for women anxious to have children.
"If this trend of men waiting to marry continues, it is likely to clash with the timing of marriage and childbearing for the many young women who hope to marry and bear children before they begin to face problems associated with declining fertility," Popenoe said.
Many Utah men, however, are a different breed when it comes to this issue, too. In 2000, more than half the 47,331 babies born had fathers who were age 29 or younger.
