the changing face of family values

There was a time when marriage was considered to be an integral part of society, and something which was the ultimate stamp of conviction and commitment for any relationship. However, as social conventions have changed, so too have the prevailing attitudes towards marriage and marital values. It is no longer seen as a necessary assertion of a relationships value, and in fact appears as something of increasing irrelevance to most young couples commencing a union.

Although many theories have been advanced for this, there is a common understanding that women in particular are deciding to devote more of their time and effort into cultivating a career. This ensures that concepts such as marriage and raising a family are deferred, or in some instances neglected entirely in favor of more financially prosperous pursuits. While this is supported by certain information and statistics, it is also countered by others that suggest that the true issues lie with the concept of marriage itself rather than its practicalities.

Not an Issue of Pursuing a Career

In terms of corroborating the idea of marriage becoming less compatible with contemporary culture, the average age of those who marry for the first time has risen considerably in the last 30 years. The average male gets married at the age of 27, which is an increase of 2 years since 1980. Similarly, the average female now enters wedlock when they are 25, a figure which has risen by 3 years within the same time period. This is a clear statistical indicator of men and women choosing to defer marriage until later in life.