By Mallory Harris | Opinion Editor
Your early 20s are meant to be a magical time. If you know you’re with the person you want to spend the rest of your life with, why wait another day? Get married young and have the ability to not only start a life together but also build it and live out what you envisioned together.
Realistically, who hasn’t watched the opening scene of “Up” and wanted to recreate the love between Carl and Ellie? Of course, their love was their own, but there’s no reason you can’t build a house, share picnics, work together and quite literally live a life together in your early 20s. Think about it — they struggled financially, had emotional moments and experienced difficulties starting a family. There isn’t a single issue they faced as a young couple that an older couple hasn’t encountered.
I know that recently, getting married has not been the move for people in their 20s due to a multitude of factors. Pew Research Center has shown that the age in which people enter their first marriage has increased since the 1960s. The study shows that in the age group of 18- to 29-year-olds, 59% were married in the 1960s while only 20% are married today. I believe we can bring back the trend of getting married in our early 20s and build each other up in a mutual way. The environment and mentality of marriage has changed in the past six decades, but that doesn’t mean you can’t spend your life with who you want.
However, what isn’t talked about enough regarding getting married young is the benefits of being together with the person you feel most comfortable with. Besides the obvious of growing together, there is research from the National Library of Medicine showing that couples who get married early often have a happier marriage. This isn’t to say that getting married later in life won’t lead to an equally successful marriage, but factors such as compatibility and reliability earlier in life with a committed relationship are helpful for young couples because they’ve already found what they’re looking for. To each their own in how they pursue a relationship and the boxes that need to be checked off, but don’t hold out waiting for someone or get stuck thinking there is someone better when what you have is already strong on a base level.
As a final thought, get married young if you are personally there with your partner and if that’s the next step. Don’t do it because it feels right or because you’ve put two years of your life into the relationship, because if you go into it with the wrong intentions, it won’t be what you want. Many people stereotype young married couples as the ones most likely to divorce because of “rushing into things,” but if you’re ready with your significant other, then nothing is getting hurried along.
Getting married young is a realistic proposition for couples who are at that stage in life. Start your life together and build a foundation that’s strong and will only grow alongside you as people and as a couple.
