Is Marriage Still Relevant?

We ask sociologist Lisa Strohschein

- Courtney Shea

The latest statistics show marriage is on the decline in Canada. Could "I won't" be the new "I do"?

About 77 percent of Canadian couples are married today, compared with an average of around 85 percent in the 1980s. But if you look at the reasons behind the drop, it's not a rejection of marriage so much as the path to getting married has become less direct. It used to be that you lived with your parents and then you got married, but now there are other options and obstacles. The decline of marriage rates has been the steepest in the 20-to-29 demographic: the average age for getting married for the first time has gone from roughly 23 years old in 1970 to 30 today. For the most part, these are people who do want to marry eventually-they're just waiting.

Why the wait?