“So, when are you getting married? You're no spring chicken anymore! Don't you want a family? A nice big house with a yard? Aren't you worried all the good ones are gonna be snatched up? Growing old alone is no fun, let me tell you!"
Gosh, aren’t family reunions fun for singletons? Tell Auntie Augusta not to fret. A brand new, oh-so-helpful Facebook app developed by Time (they've gotta stay culturally relevant somehow) is here to help you decide when to get married.
No. Really. This seriously exists and – basically – this is how it works: First, it calculates the median age of your married Facebook friends (this includes domestic partnerships as well). Then, it looks at your age. Next, it passes judgment. Wooow, what insight, what intrigue! Leave it to Facebook to serve as yet another source of my free-floating anxiety.
Here are more useful facts on millennial marriage than this downright “judgy app” could ever offer. The rest of your friends are marching off a damn cliff – it's about time you did too! Since when did our peers determine our actions – especially on something as important as choosing a life partner?!
Gallup, our favorite pollsters, pulled some intriguing data for us last August on our generations attitudes towards marriage, especially as a means of financial security.
Right off the bat, only 28% of millennials of marrying age (currently, this means people between 18 and 34 years old) are married. Seems kinda low, but apparently 56% intend to marry some day.
Instead of viewing marriage as a stepping stone to greater economic stability, it seems as if Millennials see economic stability as a prerequisite for marriage. – J. Maureen Henderson, Forbes
Here’s the catch: millennials who earn more than $75,000 a year are far more likely to be married than those who earn less than $30,000. Those with high earnings make up 51% of millennial marriages, while those on the lower end of the spectrum contribute 19%. Being married, we're sad to report, does convey real economic benefits. The good news?
Delaying marriage – i.e., ignoring that damn app – makes economic sense for Millennials, especially women.
Those who finish college and get married after turning 30 earn $18,152 more per year, on average, than women who marry in their 20s or teens. Even women who are high school graduates but don’t finish college earn $4,052 more per year, on average, than women who marry when they’re younger.” – L.A. Times, Karen Kaplan
What's the bottom line? An app can’t tell you when to marry. Don’t freak out – listen to your bank account (okay, your heart too) and decide from there.
Image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Model_Shotgun_wedding...
