An interesting topic, whether personal, humorous or otherwise.
Let me say this, first.
What happens below in this post is both my personal opinion (much as the preceding posts) and a little bit of fact, both with and without citation.
Consider that marriage, historically, as a legal institution, in other words, part of the legal fabric of a society, was created mostly due to "property rights." e.g., inheritance of physical and real estate property.
And, consider also that in many societies reaching back centuries (yes, Anglo-Saxon, etc.) females were then considered chattel, could not always inherit (their legal male spouse received the inheritance and controlled it) and certain persons (female AND male) subject to royal control or to "noble" control had to get permission to wed. [see
Droit du seigneur
at Wikipedia]
Enough on the above and very glad to live in the society and legal framework (including gay marriage) we now live in.
There is a lot of statistical data (not necessarily
evidence) regarding marriage in the U.S. And what appears to be the more recent study (link below)
http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2013/art...attainment.htm
is more about education, race, gender and not particularly about age, per se, but if you look at it carefully, you will see much age-related data.
That said, in my experience, everyone's perspective is colored by his/her personal experience and that of their friends, co-workers, relatives and associates.
e.g., if you hang with a bunch of divorced folks, quite likely you will see marriage quite differently than if you hang with mostly married folks. I cannot back up this statement with statistics, and I didn't search for any studies within.
But I personally know of many marriages still intact after 30, 40 and 50 years or more. And I also personally know many folks who are within their second marital journey and many who are still divorced.
imo, the press reports of marriage/divorce statistics are skewed.
imo, the 50/50 split reflects what I call many "steady marriages," the more or less 50 pct who get married and stay married.
imo the majority of "second marriages" (see the BLS -- that's Bureau of Labor Statistics -- not Ball Licking and Sucking! -- study link above) is where the divorce rate comes in.
See Table 3 in the BLS study in which by age 46 still 53 pct of all original marriages remain intact.
Enough of statistics about wedded bliss and divorce and whatever.
= = = = =
Almost time to pack up and get ready for today's San Antonio community lunch, hanging out with a bunch of "singles" (well, many of us may have spouses or s.o.'s, but for the time being we are single) all horny and looking to get laid, blown, kissed and generally well f*cked!
Carry on!