What's the best age to get married?

[JudesNiceThings]

There is quite a good argument for not marrying, just living together.

With the divorce rate rising, it makes things so much less complicated all round!

(PS - I do believe in marriage - I would never have married if I thought I couldn't stick to my marriage vows!)

[victorfrank]

You do realize that this is a no win situation, Victor?
Dennis

I know, but I do feel that I have to make the effort, and all the ladies who have posted are so lovable.

[paintinglemonjane]

I know, but I do feel that I have to make the effort, and all the ladies who have posted are so lovable.

Balk................... Crawler.

[vq5speed]

In early days people got married younger all the time. My parents both in there early 70s got married young. My mom was 17 and my dad was 18. Had 4 kids and they are still married today. I didn't get married till I was 30, stayed married for 10 years then divorced now for 6 years.

I know most people will say 16 though 20 is to young to get married. It all depends IMO. I have a friend who got married at 18 his spouse 16 about 20 years ago. They are still married with 3 grown kids. I think the likely hood of divorce is higher the younger you are. I think if two people are in love and dead set to get married trying convince them will not change there mind. I say be happy and give them full support. Its not a crime or a life time detriment to be divorced at a young age.If it works great if not then they learned something.

[JerseyDevil]

Hmmm....
I've always viewed a marriage as a sacred bond between two... not a contract.
As for an age limit... who can speak for others?
I was 26 when I married Carol who was 22.
Each day the vows we made are reinforced by the things we do for each other.
If either one or both of a couple can't deal with sacrificing their ego then I suggest they never marry... no matter what their age.

[kengillam]

I think part of the problem with the rising number of divorces is the edict the "Marriage should not be entered into lightly or unadvisidly" is not thought about. Marriage takes hard work and yes there will be tough times, spending a bit more thought beforehand would be beneficial. I fear many give up too easily, is it selfishness and unwillingness to compromise, not trying enough to work things out together. I don't know, but it cannot be a strong society where so many children are deprived of the experience of a both parent upbringing. Is it any wonder that they grow up with a 'casual' attitude to relationships through lack of role models.

[Teddyrose54]

Sounds like he wants a laundry maid and she wants a career

Hit the nail on the head there~

[astral276]

Sounds like he wants a laundry maid and she wants a career

Well that's where compromise comes in. She should pick Laundry Maid as a career. Then everyone is happy.

[somersethedge]

you also get the situation Maple and I are in.... even if we did want to get married we would lose her late husbands works pension and without it we would not be able to pay all the bills

we are also in the situation that a Pagan "wedding" is not legal in this country dispite the fact that there were over 200,000 pagans in the UK in 2002 and that number grows by the year, and the fact that it is a recognized religion

[SalusLibrorum]

you also get the situation Maple and I are in.... even if we did want to get married we would lose her late husbands works pension and without it we would not be able to pay all the bills

we are also in the situation that a Pagan "wedding" is not legal in this country dispite the fact that there were over 200,000 pagans in the UK in 2002 and that number grows by the year, and the fact that it is a recognized religion

I think that's the case for all religions except Christianity (and possibly Judaism), my Hindu friend said that they all had to have registry office weddings first before the religious ones or it wasn't recognised as legal. Something to do with the establishment of the church.

Looks like you can have the best of both worlds then, you can have a ceremony that is meaningful to you (should you so desire) but doesn't complicate anything with legalities and traps to be wary of.

You're lucky with the pension, all the benefits and pensions documents I've seen include the nasty little sentence ".....or living with someone as if man and wife". Mind you it's also a long time since I read anything pension or benefit related too.