The millennial generation is the generation that is roughly defined as those who were born between the early 1980s to the early 2000s. They are a generation who are getting married older and living together before marriage, completely different to the ‘baby boomer’ generation, those who were born between the mid-1940s and the mid-1960s.
In fact, those millennials who married in the 2000s are divorcing at even lower rates and if this trend keeps up, it is very possible that almost two-thirds of those marriages will be long term and not end up in divorce.
Almost 90% of ‘baby boomers’ were in marriages by the time they reached their forty-sixth birthday and 45% have experienced a divorce. What is interesting is that the divorce rate decreases with the more education a couple has and ‘baby boomers’ with a college degree were actually less likely to get a divorce.
Millennials understand that putting critical cornerstones in place as a foundation to their marriages are important in order to give their marriages the best chance of success. As a result, they are more focused on finishing their college educations, starting and nurturing their careers and securing their finances prior to getting married where possible.
Co-habitation prior to marriage is also very common among millennials with 66% of new marriages taking place between couples who have already lived together for 31 months on average. 59% of female millennials also feel that living together is a legitimate lifestyle and 70% of females between the ages of 30 to 34 have lived with a male partner.
How millennials define what it means to be a family is also very interesting. 80% for example, say that an unmarried couple that live together with a child is a family and 86% say that a single parent with a child is also a family. The key takeaway about the millennial generation and their attitudes to marriage, is that more of them are living together prior to getting married. They have a growing acceptance of other family forms and these factors are all contributing to less ‘shotgun weddings’ and longer marriages.
For an illustrated insight into this fascinating generation, have a look at this infographic created by Can’t We Just Get Along Counselling.
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