You don’t know a person as well if you marry late in life. Sure, people change a lot in their twenties and thirties, but marrying young, you change and grow together!

I have two children (we spent plenty of time being “free” and traveling the world together before we had children, so our children are still young), and I would much rather my children marry at 22 than at 32 or at 42.

My folks got married when they were 20, started a family right away, had a lot of financial problems and their families were really unsupportive. But they shared values and worked together and now, 25 years later, they’re still happily married.

However, I do have a gripe about one of her points. I don’t think that being married will put a stop to your ability to experience new things. Sure, it’ll stop you from dating other people but it doesn’t mean you can’t do fun stuff anymore. It also presents something good; I think my parents were able to sync into each other’s personality because they grew up together and considered the other person with the life-changing decisions they made. It’s a matter of balancing personal growth and your growth with your spouse.
Alex´s last [type] ..Dude Trapped in a Shipping Container

Chiming in late here. Your questions are good ones. I would note that for some folks the answer to number one is yes even at a very young age. Some folks know they want to, even need to be married, and that may mean they are happy to “miss out” on things that early marraige may prevent.

Ultimately age is not the issue, maturity is the issue. I’ve know some 19 year old couples who were more mature than some 30 year old couples. We all tend to mature as we age, but some folks do it a lot faster.

I have also seen folks who seemed to want a couple who married early to fail. It’s wanting your predictions of disaster to come true, and doing nothing to prevent it. Young married couples often have a hard time getting connected in churches and other groups, and that is a stress for any marraige.

Finally, I now live in a small town in Washington state, and young marraige is far from rare here. I go to church with couples who make ten years of marraige before they are 30, and couples celebrating their silver anniversary well under 50. I don’t see the divorce and devastation here I saw with those who married at the same age in Austin Texas. I think the cultural acceptance makes it easier for these couples to make it.

Paul