More people aged 25-34 are "single" than "married" ... should you care?
The Wall Street Journal is but one of many sources reporting upon analysis of recent information released by the U.S. Census Bureau:
... for the first time the proportion of people between the ages of 25 and 34 who have never been married exceeded those who were married in 2009—46.3% versus 44.9%, according to an analysis by Mark Mather, a demographer at the Population Reference Bureau, a non-profit research organization in Washington.
My question: how much, if any, should you care?
e.g.
Case 1: you could get mildly intoxicated (but not too intoxicated to legally be unable to sign a contract) on a weekend trip to Las Vegas, and get "married" at 2am by a guy dressed up as Elvis to an individual you met just a few hours before. That would be legally a "marriage" - although you could also get a divorce a few hours or days or weeks later if so inclined.
Case 2: On the other hand, vows taken in front of a group of friends and/or family aren't legally a "marriage" unless you've got a government stamp of approval.
I'd argue that the latter case seems like something that could more legitimately be called a marriage than the former. Martin Luther would seem to agree.
What does the legal status of "married" mean anymore that makes it different from "common law"? (Other than perhaps as acting as a bit of a bureaucratic shortcut - wills, living wills, etc.).
Comments
Sarennah
Tue, 2010-10-12 01:58
Permalink
Common law
It seems like marriage doesn't mean much anymore in society compared to common law relationships. I would argue that there is a fundamental difference- common law are couples who live together and don't really desire to do the marriage commitment... Marriage is a definite plan to stay together. People I've talked to who are just living together always sound scared to talk about marriage, as if it might ruin their relationship.