Relationships December 17, 2016
Hilary Duff has shared on “The Talk” that she was “too young” when she got married at 22.
Adding that she has a four-year-old son with hockey star Mike Comrie and “wouldn’t change any of it for the world,” the “Younger” star said, “I had so much so young and a full time job and I felt really ready to get married. However, I don’t think we were mature enough to stick it out.
“But then you look at other places and they get married at that age and they have great marriages for 40 and 50 years,” the former Disney star added.
Aisha Tyler joined in, saying, “I think that part of it is you’re in love and you want to make a life with this person … I think the upshot is that marriage is difficult or at least challenging at any age and that people change throughout their lives. Sometimes you can make it work and sometimes you can’t.”
READ MORE: Is Dating the New Dungeons & Dragons? (VIDEO)
But how much of this is true?
The Institute for Family Studies has found that the greatest risk for divorce (38 percent) occurs when a couple 20 years old or younger marry. The study found that couples who marry between the ages of 28 and 32 have a lower risk of divorce (10 percent).
At the same time, however, the risk of divorce actually increases to 17 percent when couples marry over the age of 32.
Slate called this the “Goldilocks theory of marriage.” In other words, marrying too early can lead to greater risk of divorce, while the same applies to those marrying too late.
Psychology Today explains that several factors can contribute to longer and healthier marriages when couples wait to tie the knot until they are in their late 20s/early 30s.
When marrying older, “It’s likely that couples are more financially stable, have a clearer sense of self and goals, and have spent enough time dating to know what they really want,” says Psychology Today.
Interestingly, The Washington Posts reports that women who wait to get married actually see an increase in their earnings. On the other hand, “No matter their education level, men who wait until they’re 30 or older to marry earn a statistically smaller amount than men who marry earlier.”
READ MORE: 11 Reasons to Marry in Your Twenties
But while marrying later can increase a woman’s wages, other studies actually found that couples who marry in their early 20s are happier than those who wait.
Brad Wilcox, who runs the National Marriage Project, told The Washington Post that while people who marry younger tend to be poorer and less-educated, “self-reported happiness with one’s marriage is highest for those who marry in their mid-20s, compared to those who do it in their late teens or early 20s or who wait until their late 20s or early 30s.”
Wilcox concluded, “If your goal is to maximize your professional and financial accomplishment, then there’s no question that getting married later is the answer for you. But if you have a more traditional orientation in terms of having kids or being religious, then getting married and having kids in your 20s is a good bet.”
In the end, the choice to marry earlier or later depends on you and your partner. As Sharon Osbourne noted on the show, “It’s on an individual basis.”
