Age as a Factor in Marriage

X GE is one of several important factors that tend to limit the choice of a marriage partner. There is a general tendency in American society for men to marry for the first time when they are in their twenties and for them to marry a wife a few years younger than they are. Age at first marriage varies over a relatively limited number of years for most men and women, and the difference between the ages of most spouses likewise is subject to a small range of variation. There is the additional tendency for the difference between the ages of the spouses to be greater if either or both are marrying for the second or subsequent time. However important age may be in marital selection, other factors, such as propinquity of residence, quite often outweigh it. Furthermore, age at marriage is associated with the age at which physical maturity is reached, the age at which marriageable persons of the two sexes are concentrated, the age at which education is completed, the age at which self-support begins, the age at which children can be borne, and the like. Some, if not all, of these items vary from one racial, religious, or economic group to another and among persons within any one group. Nor is age at marriage a tendency that is independent of the times. There is evidence that the median age at marriage has declined