“I’m getting married” – a young daughter’s announcement shocks any parent. If we trace the waves of history, we can see that norms regarding the appropriate marriage age have changed over time. Today, early marriages are no longer considered a proper decision for beginning a happy family life and are therefore mostly perceived negatively.
Upon hearing such a desire from their child, parents naturally try every way to “bring their child to their senses,” advising them not to rush into such a decision. They begin to talk about the difficulties of family life and emphasize the importance of first completing higher education and acquiring a solid profession. With generational experience, it’s wiser to build a family only when both man and woman have fully matured for this step. The strength of marriage and happiness depend precisely on this factor.
According to psychologists, the optimal age for marriage, for both men and women, is twenty-five years old and no earlier. It is from this age that people begin to approach everything happening in their lives more responsibly, especially marriage. Having crossed the threshold into adulthood, a person starts longing to create a family home, no longer thinking of it as a limitation on freedom. Moreover, not everyone can boast financial stability in their youth, and this factor plays a significant role in the stability of family relationships and the strength of marriage.
The main drawback of early marriages is immature feelings of love. Young people often mistake infatuation and passion for true love. After only a short time, the newly formed family, confronted with everyday problems, begins to feel nostalgia for their previous life in their parents’ home, and romantic relationships fade into nothingness.
Three reasons, according to psychologists, why early marriages occur:
1. Lack of parental love toward the daughter. The girl seeks to obtain the missing emotions, searching for warmth and affection in marriage;
2. Excessive parental protection of an adult daughter, treating her like a child, pushes her to seek desired freedom in marriage;
3. Unplanned pregnancy, unrelated to psychological factors.
Therefore, before binding your fate to a man, you should honestly assess the situation. Are you getting married because of your parents?
Three advantages characteristic of early marriages:
1. Youth is marked by a light-hearted approach to life, a bright and vivid outlook on everything, and a flexible psyche that allows for intense feelings of happiness and the ability to overlook each other’s flaws;
2. The desire for adult life fosters independence and discipline in some girls and boys who enter into marriage;
3. Offers advantages for young parents.
According to statistics, early marriages mostly occur in developing countries. In Europe, the average marriage age is around 30 years.
