If you think that you are receiving fewer wedding invitations this spring, you probably are. A recent article in the USA Today highlights that the marriage rate hit an all time low rate of 50.3% in 2013. It was 72.2% in 1960. Experts believe that the marriage rate will continue to fall. This trend is not good for the United States economy. The more couples that get married, the more new households that are established which leads to more purchases of homes, appliances, vehicles and other durable goods. Eventually, most of these new households have children, which leads to other spending. As more young adults live at home, don’t get married and don’t establish new households, this has an obvious economic effect. This trend is one of the primary reasons the housing recovery has not been more robust.
The article also noted that there are psychological aspects to marriage that may help the economy. The stability of being married may encourage people to take more economic risks, which leads to more innovation and creation of new businesses.
While unemployment and the fragile economy could be a factor in the decreasing marriage rate, one could also surmise that the increase in social media is also responsible. Online dating, Facebook, text messaging and other forms of electronic communication are clearly diminishing the social skills of our youth, which may lead to weaker interpersonal relationships.
The bottom line is that whether it’s economic, the use of social media, or both, marriage has changed and will continue to change.