Who will get married in the future? And at what age? And why?

Three of my girlfriends are planning their weddings at the moment, but overall, fewer of us are getting married, and people marry at an older age.

The delay is of course a result of people living longer, hence stretch the years of being “youth”. For example I celebrated Melbourne Cup yesterday with a bunch of single “around 40´s” with no intentions to settle down... That´s the story in the urban world.

The lower number of marriages might be explained with a cultural change stepping away from religion and towards independence and freedom to live together before having a ring on the finger.

Today we have the choice to live however we please, and for brands, finding “target groups” is becoming less about age than about lifestyle, why is the decrease in marriages actually isn´t very interesting for me... When you as a marketer wish to meet its consumer, understand their movements and values, you need more specific and sensitive data than what ABS can contribute with. Statistics is a part of the mix when analysing, but far from everything.

I will still present some numbers explaining Australian marriages (old of course since ABS works in turtle speed...):

-          In 2007, there were 116,322 marriages registered, representing a small increase of 2,100 (1.8%) from 2006. This is the highest number of marriages registered in a single year since 1990.

-          The median age of people married in 2007 was 31.6 years for males and 29.3 years for females. Since 1988, the median age at marriage has increased by 3.8 years for males and 3.9 years for females.

-          The median age of people getting married for the first time is slightly lower than the total median age. In 2007 the median age of males married for the first time was 29.6 years, and 27.6 years for females. By comparison, in 1988 the median age at first marriage was 26.1 years for males and 24.0 years for females.

-          Of the 116,322 couples who registered a marriage in 2007, 76.8% indicated that they had lived together prior to registering their marriage.

We still believe in love though, don´t we?