To wonder why people used to marry so young

[estrella167532839]

In 1990 the average age for getting married was 24. I know couples who got married when they were 21/22 and had only just graduated from uni. I can’t imagine being married that young.

At the moment, it seems like most people get married in their 30s, if at all.

It was different times, also, living together was still a bit judged in those days.

I'm from a culture that still marries young. I can't imagine getting married in my 30s or even older. I don't see the point in big weddings if you're already living like a married couple. What's special about your wedding if nothing changes afterwards?

I married just after graduation.

what’s so funny about it?

As my mother kindly informed me, it was so they could ”do things”. They got married in 1973 aged 21 each. Thanks mum!

Generally it comes down to social pressure, frowning on pre marital sex, faux pax to live together before marriage, sticking with the norm.

To have sex?

Was pre-marital sex really frowned on much as late as 1990?

My GM was married at 18 and had four children in quick succession. It’s unfathomable to me. She was married to my GD for 66 years.

When i was younger some couples even got married as young as 16.
In those days people didnt live together before marriage . It just wasn't done. Having bf and gf stay in the parental home and being allowed to have sex just wasn't done.
Marriage was the accepted norm for most people.

I got married at 20, in '98, it was a bit younger than some of my friends, but not by a lot, most were married by 25
We are all still married to our original partners.

If you are in a situation where you’d rather get married before having kids (and few people these days seem to bother) having kids earlier than 30 is generally biologically easier.

obviously there are exceptions.

Interesting question! Maybe communication differences might have been a factor? Before mobile phones and internet if you didn’t live together then it would have been harder to stay in touch so people moved in together earlier, which might have led to earlier marriages too.

No

People didn't really live together or were judged and I think 22 in 1990.is different to today's 22 we were expected to be adults, and people just wanted to be together. I married at 26 in 1995 we also had a toddler.

Some would be to have sex. Some so they could live together and be socially acceptable.

For women they had to be married to get a bank account or mortgage.

My parents got married the same year but they were 18! They’d jumped the gun with ‘doing things’ and she was 5 months pregnant with me 😆

Those saying "to have sex" are really missing the mark. I lived with my boyfriend in the early 90s. It wasn't unusual or particularly frowned on. We're not talking about the 1890s here.

I got married when I was 23, in 1987. We loved together beforehand too!

I'm divorced now (he was an abusive alcoholic).

Because living together was socially unacceptable, sex before marriage was crowned upon, ( the 60s happened for some, working class girls from thesticks, like my mother not so much) and being pregnant outside of marriage was still largely seen as shameful. Thankfully, the world has moved on!
Most young people.loved at home till marriage. The traditional wedding list of household stuff was because they had never lived alone. My MIL got married in 1963 at 24. Her mother tried to confiscate a pamphlet on sex that a doctor had given her as unsuitable!P

I got married at 22 in 1992. We wanted to buy a house together and didn't want to do it with the legal protections of marriage.

I will say, that having married young (and staying together) is the primary reason for financial security in middle age.

I got married in 1990 and yes sex before marriage was still frowned upon, as was living together. I was 23 and he was 22.

You’re going back decades beyond the 90s if you’re talking about not being able to open a bank account or get a mortgage!

You’re forgetting even in the 80s and early 90s, it was called “living in sin” if you weren’t married and wow betide any woman having sex before marriage! It was frowned upon so much.

You need to put things into an historical context.

I met my husband when I was 18; he was 19. We lived together for a year and got married when we were 21 and 22 (I wasn't pregnant - both our children were planned)

Now aged 67 and 68, we're still married. I can't imagine younger people staying married for that number of years.

Not in the 1990s they didn't.