Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

do you know anyone who got married very young nowadays

272 replies

lostintranslation12 · 02/03/2022 16:33

I recently found out a distant relative (who is now dead) got married when she was just 18 and her DH was also 18. This was a very long time ago and I know times were different but when I look at my DS who is 17 and although he’s a lovely lad the idea of him getting married next year seems beyond ridiculous. So I wondered does anyone know anyone who got married at a very young age (18/19/20) recently as in since 2010. How did it work out? Did they stay together? How did they manage finances ect?

OP posts:
LadyLothbrook · 02/03/2022 22:09

Married within a year of meeting (2011) i was 20 he was 28. Still together. Had our 10 year wedding anniversary last year.

GirlOfTudor · 02/03/2022 22:37

Sibling got married in 2010 at age 18. Partner was 22. Still together now.

BethAfra · 02/03/2022 22:49

Recently had a conversation about this with DS, 21. He was a bit Shock at a school friend being married. I pointed out his dad was younger than this when we married.

Didn't last but it was annoying that when we split up people asked how old we were when we got married and then just Hmm at the answer because of course it's inevitable you will divorce if you marry young.

cheesychipsfan · 03/03/2022 00:01

Yes I know loads. My dd has very recently married at 17 and her dh is 19. Very common in our community though.

GrandTheftWalrus · 03/03/2022 00:08

I got married at 25 in 2010 and a lot of people thought we were too young but had been together since we were very young. Divorced by 30 lol.

BarryTheKestrel · 03/03/2022 00:23

Married at 22 in 2012. Still together. We've had our ups and downs but overall we are very happy together. He is 4 years older so people said I was too young but in terms of real life experience I'd been out on my own for years and he had freshly left the comfort of his parents.

Looking back I probably wouldn't have got married and had children at the ages I did because I always wanted to travel and never got the opportunity. However the kids will be grown by the time I'm mid 40s so can maybe do that then instead.

newnameforthis76 · 03/03/2022 01:00

I know a couple who got married straight after university when they were both 21. That was five or six years ago and they’re still together and seem happy. They’re both practising Christians and I get the impression that was a factor; marrying young is the norm in both their families and they wouldn’t have lived together without marrying.

They’ve been together since they were 15ish apparently.

MangyInseam · 03/03/2022 02:42

I can't think of any off the top of my head, but I do know people who started to live together young, at 18 or 19. So I wonder if the real difference is that people are not marrying in the same way, many wait until years down the road when they have more money.

I wouldn't say the couples like this seem more or less likely to break up than older ones. What does seem more common is that they are working, rather than being students.

I have an aunt who married at 17, and one on the other side at 18. Husbands were both in their 20s. Both are still married now. In fact the 17 year old is part of the only couple out of four kids that hasn't divorced.

theresAtablet4thatNow · 03/03/2022 03:25

Very young since about 2010? No, I don't know any couples who married that young, that recently. I do know a couple who married in the early 80s at 17/18. They're still married to this day. I was only in my early 20s when I married, early 2000s. Still married.

I think it's much less common now, but I also believe the average late-teens/early 20-something is probably less mature and ready to settle down than they would've been 40, 30, even 25 years ago. There are exceptions, obviously.

Superhanz · 03/03/2022 03:37

My cousin got married aged 19 in 2005. He was 21 (she was pregnant). They are still together and recently became very young grandparents. They did split up for a time around 8 years ago but got back together. Being married young and a young mother hasn't he'd her back either, she's doing pretty well for herself. They had really supportive family.

Usernameinsponeeded · 03/03/2022 03:49

I married the first Saturday after my 18th birthday. In 2006.
We’ve just celebrated our 16th anniversary.

Four children, lived in 12 countries, completed six degrees (between us) and travelled the world, one year of that was with 3 children under 4 travelling around Australia in a caravan) and I love him more than ever. I truly am very fortunate, it’s been a very easy ride with my best friend by my side.

Bllueblazerblack · 03/03/2022 03:51

Not married but met my partner when I was 22 and he was 26. 17 years and still together, had a baby last year and a Civil Partnership.

FindingMeno · 03/03/2022 04:05

I know someone married at 18/19 - 35 years together and counting.

Katandra9 · 03/03/2022 04:15

My husband and I had just turned 22 when we got married, been together since we were 15, we have 3 girls and been married 16 years

KittyBurrito · 03/03/2022 06:26

Not married, but know of folks who had babies that young, and are still happy with same DP decade later. It all worked out...

D0lphine · 03/03/2022 08:35

@theresAtablet4thatNow

Very young since about 2010? No, I don't know any couples who married that young, that recently. I do know a couple who married in the early 80s at 17/18. They're still married to this day. I was only in my early 20s when I married, early 2000s. Still married.

I think it's much less common now, but I also believe the average late-teens/early 20-something is probably less mature and ready to settle down than they would've been 40, 30, even 25 years ago. There are exceptions, obviously.

Do you think rather than maturity being an issue is possibly the economy/ world events that are stopping people getting married?

Very hard for people to settle down these days from a financial point of view. Mostly youngsters have to work for a long time to be able to afford to rent a basic family home let alone buy.

KILM · 03/03/2022 09:03

In the most good natured way possible, this thread is absolutely infuriating as the majority of the responses are talking about pre 2010 which is what the OP specifically asked for because the whole point of the thread is wondering how common it is NOW, not if your parents are still together! Im actually laughing at how much this has annoyed meas this would have been an interesting thread otherwise.

SoberSerena · 03/03/2022 09:12

🤣🤣🤣 sorry, I'm also laughing at tour disproportionate ire @kilm (also in a food natured way)!

You're right of course. I can't think of anyone I know irl who married under the age of 20 since circa 2002. I got engaged at 25, which is normal for my friendship group and that was around 2010. But under 20 does somehow make it a lot rarer. The closest one I know was 2002 at 18, which was still thought of as quite unusual back then.

Awaits kilm's head exploding 😈

(PS: I get really annoyed at some threads on here too sometimes and I can't understand why it gets my goat on any given day and it is quite funny)!

Ragwort · 03/03/2022 09:13

KILM I totally agree with you, don't people READ the thread title? Hmm

SoberSerena · 03/03/2022 09:13

Your*
Good natured*

Gets irrationally enraged at autocorrect Angry

housemaus · 03/03/2022 09:24

I only know 2 people who got married young - one at 18, one at 19.

One is on her third marriage, the other her second with a long failed engagement in the middle. I don't know if that's correlation or causation, but it's interesting!

housemaus · 03/03/2022 09:24

@housemaus

I only know 2 people who got married young - one at 18, one at 19.

One is on her third marriage, the other her second with a long failed engagement in the middle. I don't know if that's correlation or causation, but it's interesting!

I should add, they're both now between 30-34 in age. So not over a very long time period, either.
gogohm · 03/03/2022 09:28

My friends son married at 20 last year

Nocaloriesinchocolate · 03/03/2022 09:43

Yes, though a couple of years before your cut off year and their relationship is stronger than ever, despite, as everyone has, some rocky life events. Finances seem fine, though Ive not enquired as to details.

thebabessavedme · 03/03/2022 10:00

My parents, 18 and 19, been together 60 years

Me, first married at 20, divorced at 26 (now married 3 times)

My DD, marrried at 20, Him 21, lovely family, ten years together this year

Swipe left for the next trending thread