Conventional wisdom holds that the older a couple is, the less likely they are to get divorced. After all, it’s high-school sweethearts to are the most likely to split up. Well, this is true up to a point.
Basically, you have the best chances of sticking together if you get married in your late twenties. After the age of thirty-two, your chances of staying together actually start decreasing once more, according to University of Utah psychologist Nicholas H. Wolfinger.
Wolfinger writes, “My data analysis shows that prior to age 32 or so, each additional year of age at marriage reduces the odds of divorce by 11 percent . . . However, after that, the odds of divorce increase by 5 percent per year.”
So what gives? Wolfinger thinks that the “modern alternatives” to marriage may be pulling people out of the marriage market. Perhaps some people are perfectly happy being single, while others are like Gene Simmons and don’t see the need to formalize a relationship with marriage. Still, others who delay marriage may be so used to the single life that they can’t adapt to a married one.
So: is there a deadline looming for you? Maybe it’s time to dust off the ol’ online dating profile.
