Oklahoma has long had a high divorce rate. There are several reasons for that: poverty, low education, and a young age of marriage are all factors in divorce. They are also, unfortunately, part of our state’s culture. Another factor, not often mentioned, is that we believe in marriage. Other states may have lower divorce rates but (we Okies we say quietly to ourselves) at least we still believe in marriage.
Not so much any more. This article from the Daily Oklahoman reports that marriage license applications have reached the lowest point of the last two decades.
The most likely reason for the falling numbers is that young adults are waiting longer to get married, says Paul Amato, a member of the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative’s research advisory group.
Amato is a professor at Penn State University who has received national recognition for his work in sociology, demography and family studies. He says in the 1950s and ’60s, young adults often would marry in their late teens to early 20s. Today, more couples are waiting until their mid- to late 20s or even early 30s to marry.
Amato theorized that as more young adults put marriage on hold, a downturn in the application numbers could occur. Then, as more of a generation’s couples decide to marry, the numbers should again climb.
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