24.
Just kidding.
While we can likely all agree that one should not marry too young and that one should not postpone marriage too long, there is no ideal age at which to marry. Precisely when to marry so as to prevent a divorce? Nobody knows that.
That stated, we can review studies of married couples to see if there are correlations between the age at which one marries and divorce rates.
According to Nicholas Wolfinger (in Psychology Today) those who marry when they are between ages 28 and 32 are least likely to divorce.
“Before that age range, divorce rates are still decreasing; after that window, they begin to climb again.”
“Why is this? Wolfinger can’t say for sure. But, as far as the pattern goes, he asserts that “its existence is beyond question.” When he replicated the finding using data from the 2011-2014 NSFG, the same trend emerged. After five years of marriage, couples who married as teens have a 38% risk of divorce; those in their early twenties are also highly vulnerable (27%), but then there’s a strong decline for couples who marry between ages of 25 and 29 (14%) and ages 30 to 34 (10%). Once again, though, couples who got married in their mid-30s saw an uptick in their divorce risk: Couples who wed for the first time at 35 or over had a 17% risk of divorce during their first five years of marriage.”
But remember: the age at which you marry is not the cause of a happy marriage or divorce. It may make marriage easier in many respects, but marrying at age 30 doesn’t guarantee no divorce. There are tens of thousands of factors that affect marriage and divorce. Age is but one of them.
Utah Family Law, LC | divorceutah.com | 801-466-9277