Married couples a minority among all couples in the US (Breaking on Drudge)

Drudge ^ | 10/14/06 | Drudge report

[Samwise]

Several years ago I joked to hubby that we were going to have to hide the wedding pictures so that Hobbit Lass wouldn't be embarrassed because her mom and dad were married. Guess I wasn't too far off mark.

[HungarianGypsy]

I got married at 19. Still am thirty years later. Nobody ever interviews me.

Not quite caught up to you, yet. Married at 19. Currently at 13 years, 10 months, and 13 days. You want the hours and seconds too?

[mockingbyrd]

Yeah, I want my special rights....people don't understand how hard it is to be married. Government needs to help us....

[HungarianGypsy]

Did you get a lot of flack for marrying at 19? Or how about, "How's married life?" for the millionth time?

[trisham]

Married since 1983. I can't imagine anything else, really.

It's wonderful.

[JennysCool]

America is overwhelmingly friendly to marriage and the vast, vast majority of people are participants.

Very true.

There are a lot of breakups, though, and I think it's all attributable to the incredible array of choices and dillemas offered by modern life. One party in the marriage will be offered "the big job" at some location the other party doesn't want to move to; one party will return to school and find his or her mindset no longer meshing with the other; one party will go on a "health kick" and get fit while the other remains slovenly; one party will become radically liberal while the other remains conservative (or vice-versa); one party will fall into a group of friends the other abhors; one party will give up drink or drugs while the other continues to imbibe.

The list just goes on and on. We all change so much these days, even in a span of months, that it's difficult to keep it all together. And it's not helped by the number of people who marry for "convenience" or simply to have children, or for money and "comfort," rather than waiting for true love -- which does exist, no matter what the gloom-and-doomers say.

In this, as in a lot of things, it was better in the "good old days."

[bahblahbah]

People are not maturing fast enough and are not marrying soon enough IMO. After a while, people don't see a point in getting married and they do their best to justify that decision.

[madison10]

My husband and I met at ages 16 and 17. We just celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary last August. We married at ages 21 and 22. It WAS a lot of work. Retirement will be the test...we don't have kids.

[CaptainK]

I was married at 21. Just celebrated my 30th anniversary.

A long marriage depends on the individual's maturity level and what they actually expect out of another person. You need some breathing room in a relationship. If your entire happiness revolves around another, you will suffocate each other.

[deport]

I assume the following is the info Drudge is touting......

United States and States

R1101. Percent of Households That are Married-Couple Families: 2005
Universe: Households  
Data Set: 2005 American Community Survey
Survey: 2005 American Community Survey, 2005 Puerto Rico Community Survey

NOTE. Data are limited to the household population and exclude the population living in institutions, college dormitories, and other group quarters. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see .

Rank	State	Percent	Margin of Error
1	Utah	61.5	+/-1.1
2	Idaho	56.3	+/-1.2
3	New Hampshire	54.3	+/-1.1
4	Hawaii	53.4	+/-1.1
4	Wyoming	53.4	+/-1.6
6	Iowa	53.2	+/-0.7
7	Kansas	52.7	+/-0.8
7	Minnesota	52.7	+/-0.6
9	West Virginia	52.5	+/-0.9
10	Nebraska	52.4	+/-0.8
11	Montana	52.1	+/-1.2
12	South Dakota	51.9	+/-1.2
13	New Jersey	51.8	+/-0.5
14	Texas	51.7	+/-0.4
15	Indiana	51.6	+/-0.6
16	Kentucky	51.5	+/-0.6
17	Maine	51.3	+/-1.1
18	Virginia	51.2	+/-0.5
19	Arkansas	51.1	+/-0.8
20	Connecticut	51.0	+/-0.7
20	North Dakota	51.0	+/-1.2
20	Oklahoma	51.0	+/-0.7
23	Wisconsin	50.8	+/-0.5
24	Delaware	50.3	+/-1.3
24	Missouri	50.3	+/-0.6
26	Michigan	50.1	+/-0.4
27	Alaska	49.9	+/-1.5
27	Colorado	49.9	+/-0.6
29	Alabama	49.8	+/-0.6
29	Pennsylvania	49.8	+/-0.4
29	Tennessee	49.8	+/-0.6
29	Washington	49.8	+/-0.5
	United States	49.7	+/-0.2
33	California	49.7	+/-0.3
33	Illinois	49.7	+/-0.3
35	Georgia	49.5	+/-0.4
36	Ohio	49.4	+/-0.4
36	Oregon	49.4	+/-0.7
38	North Carolina	49.3	+/-0.4
39	Maryland	49.0	+/-0.6
40	Arizona	48.9	+/-0.6
41	Vermont	48.5	+/-1.6
42	South Carolina	48.2	+/-0.7
43	Florida	47.9	+/-0.3
43	New Mexico	47.9	+/-1.1
45	Massachusetts	47.6	+/-0.6
46	Nevada	47.5	+/-0.9
47	Rhode Island	46.8	+/-1.4
48	Mississippi	46.5	+/-0.8
49	Louisiana	45.9	+/-0.8
50	New York	44.9	+/-0.3
51	District of Columbia	21.8	+/-1.4
	Puerto Rico	48.0	+/-0.6

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2005 American Community Survey

Data are based on a sample and are subject to sampling variability. The degree of uncertainty for an estimate arising from sampling variability is represented through the use of a margin of error. The value shown here is the 90 percent margin of error. The margin of error can be interpreted roughly as providing a 90 percent probability that the interval defined by the estimate minus the margin of error and the estimate plus the margin of error (the lower and upper confidence bounds) contains the true value. In addition to sampling variability, the ACS estimates are subject to nonsampling error (for a discussion of nonsampling variability, see Accuracy of the Data). The effect of nonsampling error is not represented in these tables.

[cripplecreek]

It may seem odd but I was more in love with the idea of being married than I was with my first wife.

[Fawn]

Never married.....49 yrs old. Was never on my agenda.....

[agrarianlady]

I got married at 23, 12 years ago. The grass will never, ever be greener on the other side of the fence. I'm married to my best friend. That kind of consistent love is a conscious, deliberate decision for both of us.

In our church we form groups of ladies that meet once a month for a meal. The program is called "Titus II", which seeks to follow this pattern:

"Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God."

[69ConvertibleFirebird]

Does this include the fudge packers who "marry" in Massachusetts?

[Recovering_Democrat]

DAMMIT, I'M MARRIED, AND I'M A MINORITY! WHERE'S MY GOVERNMENT CHECK?!
I WANT REPARATIONS!
I NEED FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE! I'M A MINORITY AND I DEMAND EQUAL RIGHTS!!
< \LIBERAL MINDSET>

[69ConvertibleFirebird]

District of Columbia = 21.8%

BWAAAAAA!!!! HAAAA!!!! HHHAaaaaa!!!! haaaa!!!! D.C. - where liberalism rules and is THE way of life. The results are in!

[RoseyT]

My parents have been married for 42 years. Hubby's parents have been married for 45 or so. We married at the age of 24 and celebrated our 17th anniversary a couple of months ago.

IMHO, too many people think marriage is only about "love." It's not just about love. It's about making a LIFE LONG commitment to another human being. I also think too many people have unrealistic expectations of what marriage will be like...or what it should be like.

I can't imagine going through life referring to him as "my partner" or "my significant other."

Anyway, God only knows how I ended up with the man I have. He's just a good and decent guy, plain and simple! And I'm so thankful!

[CrazyIvan]

Never married.....49 yrs old. Was never on my agenda.....

It took me 46 years to find the right one. Got four kids with the package. Now one son in law and a grandson. Planning on mentoring the grandson into a total hooligan. Never knew how lonely I was until I got them all.

[sageb1]

"The Europeanization of America proceeds apace?"

We're already 40 years into it.

[freespirited]

Marriage has been turned into a one-way contract written against the interests of men, and to enable women to totally screw them out of their hard-earned financial assets. Why any guy would sign such a contract these days mystifies me.

According to standard wisdom among social scientists, he does it for sex.