Perhaps most importantly, couples marrying later have had more opportunities to discuss these issues before legally combining their lives.
Financial stability cannot manufacture love or compatibility, but it can eliminate some unnecessary sources of stress.
Education Is Also Connected to Marriage Outcomes
Age at marriage cannot be considered entirely separately from education.
People pursuing college and graduate education often delay marriage, meaning education and marriage timing frequently overlap.
The 2013 Bureau of Labor Statistics analysis found notable differences in divorce according to educational attainment as well as age at marriage.
For example, among marriages beginning between ages 23 and 28, about 54 percent of marriages involving people with less than a high school diploma ended in divorce during the period studied. The rate was approximately 31 percent among college graduates in the same marriage-age category.
Among marriages beginning between ages 35 and 40, the study reported divorce figures of about 31 percent for people without a high school diploma, compared with approximately 13 percent among college graduates.
This does not prove that a college degree protects a relationship.
Education is associated with many other socioeconomic characteristics, including earnings, employment opportunities and the timing of major life events.
But the differences remind us why simple claims such as “marrying at 35 gives you a 77 percent chance of staying married” should be treated cautiously.
Population statistics describe groups.
They do not predict individual marriages with mathematical certainty.
People May Also Choose Partners Differently as They Get Older
Another possible advantage of waiting is experience.
By their late twenties or thirties, many adults have experienced serious relationships that did not work.
Although breakups can be painful, they can also provide information.
People may discover which personality traits they value most.
They may learn what kinds of disagreements they can tolerate and which ones indicate deeper incompatibility.
They may realize that chemistry alone cannot overcome conflicting plans about children, finances or lifestyle.
Someone at 20 may choose a partner largely because the relationship feels intensely exciting.
Someone at 32 may still care deeply about attraction but may also consider whether the other person handles money responsibly, treats family members respectfully, manages stress well and wants a compatible future.
Experience can shift attention from the question, “Do I love this person?” to a much broader one:
“Can we actually build a life together?”
Those are not the same question.
A strong marriage usually requires both.
There Is Also a Selection Effect
Researchers must consider another important possibility.
People who delay marriage may already differ from people who marry extremely young.
Those willing to wait may be more cautious about commitment. They may end relationships when incompatibilities become obvious rather than proceeding toward marriage because of social expectations.
They may have stronger educational or career ambitions.
They may live in communities where later marriage is normal.