Young love often feels like it’s going to last forever. Unfortunately, that’s very rarely true. In fact, getting married at a young age can increase the odds that you will get divorced.
For a long time, experts have noted that young people get divorced more often. The greatest risk is to those who get married while they are still teenagers. It may be legal to tie the knot at 18 or 19, but doing so means that the marriage may not stand the test of time.
While waiting into your early 20s can help, you really have the lowest divorce odds in your mid to late 20s. The divorce rate does start climbing again in your 30s. If you get married around 26-29, you have the best chances of making it last — though, naturally, even couples in this age bracket do get divorced.
Why does this happen? With very young couples, the issue is often just that they have a lot of changing and growing up to do. If you’re in your 30s now, think of yourself at 18. Think of the people you dated. You likely feel very different from the person you were back then.
For some, this change doesn’t matter. They grow up together and stay committed. To many, though, they turn into very different people who probably would not have gotten married at all if they had met when they were older. Divorce seems like the natural course since they’re not teens anymore.
No matter how old you are or when you got married, if you decide to split up, be sure you know what options you have.
