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People are getting hitched later, and it’s making for better marriages – Metro US

People are getting hitched later, and it’s making for better marriages

marriage, dating, relationships

The divorce rate is finally going down and a new study shows it’s because couples are waiting longer before tying the knot.

A recent survey by Bridebook.co.uk questioned 4,000 happy couples on the length of their relationships prior to getting married and it turns out, couples spend almost 5 years together before saying, “I do.”

On average couples spend 4.9 years in a relationship before getting married. Generally, they date for 1.4 years (17 months), live together for 1.83 years (22 months) and spend about 1.67 years (20 months) engaged before walking down the aisle. The total time most couples lived together prior to marriage was about 3.5 years.

The study also shows that most people have two previous serious relationships before settling down with “the one.”

All this adds up to a later age for getting hitched, according to the study. The average age for women to get married these days is about 30.8, compared with 22.6 years in the 1970s.

That trend also rings true with grooms, who are on average about 32.7 years old when they get married, compared with 24 years old in the 1970s.

It seems the longer courtships are the secret to successful relationships though, 95 percent of the couples surveyed would recommend getting married and 85 percent said the move made their relationships stronger.

According to the findings, 80 percent of respondents said their level of commitment has increased, 60 percent felt their level of happiness increased after marriage, 57 percent said their level of trust with their partner has increased and 56 percent said their level of love had increased since getting married.

When it comes to sex, however, most couples admitted marriage was not the best prescription. Just 33 percent of couples said their sex life had improved since getting married and 11 percent said it had actually gotten worse.