What Is the Ideal Age for Getting Married, According to Science?

Everyone has their own and different opinion on the question, “What age is best to get married?”.

For example, my grandma says that I should get married right after high school. And my older cousin, who is working on his dream job, says, “You should get married in your 30s, once you have a good career and a better job.”

And my mom keeps telling me, “You should get married once you are done with college.”

Now, who is right? Now let’s see it through the eyes of science.

First thing before getting married. Psychological and mental development are important.

According to Barretacademy, there are seven stages of psychological development. Around the age of 20–25, we reach physical and mental maturity, passing the first three stages of psychological development.

Okay? I have a question: “When do you think that our brain is fully developed and mature?”

When I asked this question to my mom, She told me, “I guess 18.”

But she is wrong.

Our brains are not fully developed until we are 25. I am not talking in the air; there is research and scientific proof for this.

For example, the prefrontal cortex. This part of the brain is one of the last part to mature. And this brain region, which actually helps us make decision making, planning, and keep our emotions in check, And it is not fully developed until about age 25.

In my POV, The prefrontal cortex is important for developing the social skills and self-awareness that are needed for a happy marriage.

So before seeing other aspects, I will say that it’s not good to get married before 25.

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Timing matters in marriage.

Nicholas H. Wolfinger, a researcher at the University of Utah, did a study that says the best age to get married is between 28 and 32.

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If you are curious like me, you might be asking, “Why this range?” The study shows that people who get married between these ages are more mature and better equipped to handle the challenges of marriage.

Proof?

Nicholas H. Wolfinger actually looked at the data from the national survey of family growth from 2006 to 2010 and found a pattern that had changed a lot. Using statistical methods that can handle nonlinear relationships, he found that until about age 32, the chances of getting divorced drop by 11% for every extra year of marriage. Surprisingly, the chance of getting divorced goes up by 5% every year after this age.

There was also a bit of common sense involved: why should I get married at this age? I mean in the late 20s or early 30s.

probably finished with my masters and working as a doctor in any hospital.

And you know what these are. We likely know what works and what doesn’t in relationships because we’ve been in a few.

We know the answer to the question “Who am I?” and also have an idea about what a partner wants better than now. At that time, the mind will be more mature.

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Is There a “Too Early” or “Too Late”?

So, as we have seen above, marriages at a very young age have high divorce rates. So, if I listen to my mother, getting married just after college means there will be a high chance of divorce.

There are also other reasons, because at that time I will not be totally financially stable, or have experienced real life things.

You know the things that change when we move out of college life.

And in case anyone wants to get married too late, like after 35, There are biological reasons.

It’s more likely for women over 35 to have problems during pregnancy and childbirth as they get older.

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From the above information and data, for me, the ideal age for getting married is between 28 and 32, as we found from the research done by Nicholas H. Wolfinger.

But one more important thing is to note that, Every pair and every couple is different. Thus, the best age to get married may be different for each person, depending on their needs and wants. Some will prefer to get married after college and some may will prefer after being financial stable. it depends…

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I hope you enjoyed reading. This blog post comes from what I’ve learned, what I think, and what I believe. Sign up for my Medium newsletter.

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This post was previously published on medium.com.

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