Marriage Rates

Abstract

Marriage rates have shown short‐term and long‐term fluctuations over time. Particularly since the early 1980s, a decreasing pattern of marriage rates in most developed western societies seems to be emerging. Nevertheless, marriage still exerts an important influence in people's lives, particularly in less developed societies. This entry reviews some of the factors behind the decrease in marriage rates. It is suggested that women's educational levels and work opportunities, cultural factors, cohabitation, and imbalanced sex ratios have played a major role in the decline of marriage rates.