The State of Our Unions, by John M. Grondelski

We’re in the middle of  “National Marriage Week” (February 7-14), which will be culminating – if you can use that term about something almost no one is aware of – on  Valentine’s Day.  In principle, it’s a time to focus attention on the “state of our unions,” something the National Marriage Project (NMP) based at the University of Virginia has been doing through regular research and an annual report.

Its 2022 report (available by clicking here) examined the growing tendency to put off marriage: the average age that men now marry is 30 and women, 28.  NMP recognized that various factors – economic uncertainty and extended schooling among the leading causes – contribute to this deferral.  What was more interesting to me, however, was how the report conceptualized the difference.  It spoke about “cornerstone” versus “capstone” marriages. …

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