It used to be the end of the dating road, and the first step in a long and happy domestic life with two point five kids, the white picket fence - the works.
But Millennials - those born from 1981 to 1996- are redefining the idea of marriage, with many choosing not to get hitched at all, and those that do viewing it as 'no big deal'.
- Wedding planning more stressful than ever, as intense as 'second job' - experts
- The Snack podcast: Just married!
According to a recent study from the Pew Research Center comparing millennials to the Silent Generation (born roughly from 1925 to 1942), millennials are three times as likely to never have married as their grandparents were. Reasons why millennials have postponed marriage include:
- 29 percent feel like they aren't financially ready
- 26 percent haven't found someone with the right qualities
- 26 percent feel they are too young to settle down
There's also the possibility that it's no longer a requirement for millennials to marry before those other big life steps: moving in together, buying a house, having kids, the works.
On this week's episode of Newshub podcast The Snack, journalist Sophie Bateman talks us through her decision to marry her boyfriend of eight months.
Instead of a big wedding with a poofy white dress, Bateman and her boyfriend got hitched in the registry office before having drinks with family and friends.
"I didn't tell my own mother I was getting married until about three weeks before the ceremony," Bateman reveals. " It was a weird process and a weird timeline."
Even the age we're getting married is changing.
According to the Urban Institute, the median age where women get married is now 27, and age 29 for men. That's up about seven years since the 1960s, meaning millennials are now keeping their twenties for themselves.
You can hear our thoughts on marriage, including whether it's antifeminist to want a big, white wedding, in this week's episode of The Snack.
Newshub.
