Introduction: The Perfect Age to Get Married
The family institution is a critical institution in many societies. In fact, this institution is recorded as the most important one in the society. It is here that young people are socialized to become who they are in the society. If a person grows to become a social nuisance, it can be traced back to the family, and vice versa.
The family starts with marriage. A couple gets into marriage and starts a family life, which becomes the basic unit of society. People get married at different ages. There have been a lot of debates concerning the best age for marriage, but a lot of people have concluded that people should get married in their late twenties or even later.
The Best Age to Get Married: Opinion Paragraph
There are numerous factors that a person needs to consider when choosing the best age for marriage. These factors include issues like the level of maturity, educational background, one’s capability of earning a living, and some other related issues. Statistics collected over many years have revealed that marriages that start later than middle twenties have higher chances of survival.
It is now a well known fact that a marriage that starts at twenty eight years or more is more stable than a marriage registered some years earlier. In fact, some contributors to this field highlight that the rates of divorce for people who get married (1st time) at the age of 28 or later are the lowest. These researchers continue to insist that the likelihood for a stable marriage increases as both in a couple attain the age of thirty (Behrens and Rosen 47).
By the age of twenty eight, most people have completed their basic and professional education, and they are ready to face family responsibilities and duties. They have also reached the age of responsibility, and they are ready to start a family. Unlike their younger counterparts, these people understand that there is a very big responsibility attached to marriage, and they have to work hard to make their marriage succeed.
These people have already faced challenging moments in their life, and they have some conflict management skills that are indispensable in solving the crisis in marriage (Behrens and Rosen 65). Additionally, in most cases such people are already earning a living, and they can take care of the family. They might climb their career ladder, and they use their families as motivational forces to help them succeed in their professional carriers. Therefore, a lot of factors make this age the best age for getting married.
Things to be Done
Young people need to do a number of things before they make the decision to settle in marriage. First, they must know and understand themselves well before they make this decision because they cannot select a partner for marriage unless they understand themselves. To do this, young people should be able to identify themselves precisely.
Unless they do this, they cannot identify the person with whom they are going to couple to create a friendly family in the future. In many modern cultures, the process of identifying a marriage partner typically takes most of the initial twenty five to twenty eight years of life. By this time, a person has formed his/her identity; this identity is complete since this person has separated from his/her parents (almost completely).
Therefore, this person understands his/her own uniqueness in the world, and he also understands the complexities involved in bringing another person in his/her life. Before this age (mid-twenties), many young adults are at a loss of a clear purpose of their goals and needs in life. They have also not learnt to be independent. Therefore, these people need to develop themselves, and they should also gain more expertise in life (Behrens and Rosen 91).
Statistical evidence has proven that the rate of break up for people who get married between the age of 21 or 22 is very high. It is recorded to be precisely two times the rate of divorce for people who marry at 24 or 25. According to a number of people, self-identity is the only explainable reason for this. However, the process of forming self identity can take longer than 25 years; thus, there are some instances when this age becomes an exception. Sometimes, some middle aged people get married without a good understanding of the institution.
This leads to a lot of hurdles in the future when they finally understand what they got into (Behrens and Rosen 107). Therefore, it is critical for people to develop self identity before they get into marriage. For many people, this process is attained starting at the age of 28, making this age the best for settling into marriage. These people know what they want, and the task of seeking a marriage partner is simplified.
The notion of getting married at the age over 25 has some critiques. Some married couples argue that there is nothing wrong in getting married at a young age. In fact, they draw historical evidences that people have always got married at early ages, and this has always seemed to work right.
They feel that in the contemporary society, it is still right to do that. These groups of young couples cite the main reason of marriage to be the feelings that they share and have for each other. However, they fail to acknowledge that feelings fade off, and when this happens they will start having problems since they did not have time to examine themselves.
Conclusion: What Is the Best Age to Get Married?
To avoid getting a premature divorce in marriage, one should consider the age at which he/she should marry. This will make sure that she/he does not get into an unhappy marriage. A person should ensure that he has developed his/her identity fully. In addition, this person should have determined his/her life goals in order to get into a happy marriage. A person who understands himself will develop self confidence which will help him/her tolerate someone else in his/her life.
Works Cited
Behrens, Laurence and L. Rosen. Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. 11th ed. Boston: Longman, 2011. Print.