By Satyne Doner, Editor-in-Chief
According to the United States Census Bureau, the median age of newly-weds sat at around 20 years old in 1950. As of 2023, this age has climbed to 28 years old for women and over 30 for men.
W. Bradford Wilcox, writing for the Institute for Family Studies, states that marriage rates have fallen by more than 60 percent since 1970, which is a staggering amount. Data shows that the number of working-class children growing up in a complete family unit has decreased by a startling 30 percent.
Chances are, if you’re a ‘Zoomer’ born between 1990 and 2010, most of your peers come from divorced or single-parent families. Perhaps growing up this way has resulted in a generation full of young adults who are scared to tie the knot or have sworn off it altogether.
However, this doesn’t always have to be the case.
Meet Alicia Sillen, a senior in marketing at Saint Leo University. Her husband, Brandon Sillen, is a senior studying religious studies.
The two met through University Ministry, regularly going on retreats together or doing homework next to each other at FUZ. Their first official meeting was at a ministry laser tag event, and they hit it off right away.
“A small group of us went to get food afterwards and we ended up staying until 1 a.m.,” Alicia says. “Me and Brandon started getting to know each other […] everything felt so right.”
Alicia hoped to be like her parents, who married at an early age. She never expected to get married before she graduated but stated that she knew Brandon was “the one” after only a few dates.
Her twin sister Emily Luecke, a senior studying digital communications, views her parents’ and sister’s relationships as a beautiful and normal union. While the statistics for young marriages currently might seem gloomy, she is hopeful for her peers.
“When you meet the person that you want to spend your life with, why wait? If you know, you know,” Luecke says. “Watching how Alicia’s relationship has grown has really shown me what’s crucial to a good relationship.”
Relationships like Alicia’s certainly advocate for healthy, communicative relationships with long-term goals. They show that it’s possible for Gen Z-ers to get married at an early age and build a life together – but that doesn’t come without challenges.
“One of the biggest challenges with getting married young is time management,” Alicia says. “It takes a lot of effort […] but I wouldn’t change a thing, and it was the best decision I’ve ever made.”
Luecke echoes her sister’s words, explaining that the younger generations are so used to instant gratification that getting married young could seem outdated or even difficult to commit to. She urges others her age to put more thought into their personal relationships and evaluate the commitments a significant other requires. This, she says, is the key to improving the way we view marriage and commitment as a society.
Interestingly, a data study from Tinder entitled the Future of Dating Report 2023 revealed that 75 percent of Gen Z believe they are revitalizing the dating and marriage norms that were passed down to them by their parents, putting authenticity, loyalty, and open-mindedness at the forefront of their decisions.
In truth, it seems like while there is no set age to get married by, hope is not lost for the younger generations. While marriage ages might be rising, there are still healthy relationships out there that show it is possible to build a future with someone while you’re still in your 20s.
“There will never be a perfect time to get married,” Alicia says. “But there is nothing more powerful in life than having unconditional love and support […] it makes you feel invincible, like your dreams become each other’s dreams. There really is no time like the present.”
