Do Russian Women Marry Young?

[Jooky]

Do Russian women really marry young?

In another thread, GQ posted links to a few statistics. What do you all think about this? Discuss.

Average age of women at first marriage - per country

United States = 25

Russia = 27.5

[I/O]

What do you all think about this?

Another crock of sch!t exposed for what it is or flawed numbers.

[Kuna]

I wonder how many RW never marry, and certainly amongst my wife's friends they've all waited till  late twenties.

The US number seems low to me though...  I'd say the data must be unreliable,  but the average across my wife's five closest friends would be 29 and counting (only two out of fice have married, and the others are now over 30).

[Jooky]

I wonder how many RW never marry

Good point. I wonder how those statistics are calculated. Obviously women that never marry can't be taken into account.

So if you take a group of 100 35 year old women from San Franciso. 2 of them first married when they were 25. 98 of them still haven't married. The average age at first marriage is still 25.

It's an exaggerated example of course, but I can see how these statistics can become meaningless pretty quick. 

One example from my experience. 5 years ago I met a girl that I dated for a long while. She was 22 and most her friends were around the same age. One was already married, the rest seemed to be planning on it soon.

5 years later the married girl is divorced and the rest are still single. Most are living in Moscow, late 20s now, working on their careers, living like students 4 to 6 girls per flat, with no wedding plans any time soon. Maybe the times are changing?

[Aloe]

Wikipedia is highly unreliable source. It claims there is a 55 ton solid gold Lenin statue buried under moscow state university  unless of course somebody edited that by now and it periodically rains plates and sun sets at the north?

[Jooky]

It claims there is a 55 ton solid gold Lenin statue buried under moscow state university

Oh. Was it recently moved somewhere else? 

[kievstar]

In my family and friends the marriage age in the USA is well under 25 years.  I really never noticed a difference between Ukraine and USA.  I think it depends on the type of people you hang out and bit city.  When I was working with lawyer, politicians, and consultants in Kiev most of the women were not married and over 25 years old. Even the ones over 30 most of them were not married.

I know few people who were not married by 30 in USA.  Most of them were gay.  More than 10% of the USA population is bi sexual or gay.  Eliminate the gay population and the numbers may be equal between USA and Ukraine. 

I do think men marry later in the USA compared to 40 years ago but the same goes for Ukraine.  Has nothing to do with men or women being available.  I think it has more do to people into work than family.  Kiev to me the women were very into working and family second.  Get outside of Kiev and that changed. 

[Misha]

Do Russian women really marry young?

In another thread, GQ posted links to a few statistics. What do you all think about this? Discuss.

Average age of women at first marriage - per country

United States = 25

Russia = 27.5

I already gave my answer. Searching in Russian, I found that the average age is much lower as I wrote:

Here is the latest data that I could find on Russia: in 1996, the average age of a first marriage for a woman in Russia was 22.2 years. This average age of a first marriage for women had been consistently at around the 22 year mark since 1980. (source: http://demoscope.ru/weekly/knigi/ns_r00/razdel2g2_3.html). The age may have gone up slightly since then, but if Ukraine is an indicator, it is very, very unlikely that it has gone up more than a year.

In the Ukraine, based on an article published this year, the average age for a woman to be first married has gone up slightly to 23.5 years. I doubt Russia is much different. However, the article highlights that many children are being born out of wedlock (roughly 1 in 5) which might explain in part why the average age of marriage went up (young women simply having a baby without being married or living common-law). (Source: http://glavred.info/archive/2010/05/28/125022-10.html).

In other words, Wikipedia is clearly wrong IMHO.

[Aloe]

There, i just edited wikipedia to show 26.5 instead of 27.5, now what

[Jooky]

There, i just edited wikipedia to show 26.5 instead of 27.5, now what

Are you sure? I think you'd better look again. 

[GQBlues]

So if you take a group of 100 35 year old women from San Franciso. 2 of them first married when they were 25. 98 of them still haven't married. The average age at first marriage is still 25.

Statically speaking, that's downright accurate. Which, after all, is all what these statistics attempt to do - Average age of US females at first marriage. Attempt absolution beyond the categorical set of marriage, then the number doesn't apply i.e. including those who never got married.

I can't really say much about Russia other than say my wife's friends back in Novo mostly married prior to the average age shown on Wiki. I do however tend to believe the statistical info for the US is likely to be closer to the relative truth. Relative simply because of the example you used above.

The simple recognition of the US's overall demographic makeshift alone, compared to Russia, should be enough by itself to give one a quick view how those numbers may be reasonably accurate.

While it is true that women now holds the majority population in the nation's overall institution of higher learning, an indication that relatively more women are earning their college degrees and establishing their careers prior to tying the proverbial knot, this trend (number) is still insignificant compared to the total female population in the same life stages. Especially in rural and the less-than-progressive/households in the US in which a healthy number of them do in fact marry young.

[chivo]

I already gave my answer. Searching in Russian, I found that the average age is much lower as I wrote:

No question. As you pointed out it has been moving upward and probably will continue to, but nothing dramatic. The vast majority of RW I meet and I have met 1000's are more than ready by age 24 and the ones who haven't been married at that age most likely just haven't found anyone suitable or are too cuckoo for anyone to marry (the former much more likely ). 

[Aloe]

Are you sure? I think you'd better look again. 

im sure whoever edited it to 23.5 and then back to 27.5

[Aloe]

this note has stats of one little city of 500 thousand people:
 
http://gorod48.ru/associations/news-28323.html

4851 marriages, for 1 third of people involved that was NOT the first marriage, average groom 25 years old, average bride 20-22, the stats are for the year of 2009.

Here is an interesting and disturbing interview with some demographic researcher

http://www.k-istine.ru/morals/demographia_russian_rilov.htm

He says they had 2 hour interview with 11 300 people ages 18-79 in 32 regions of Russia. Some interesting things:

He says average age for bride is 23.5 and 26 for groom nowadays. It used to be 22 and 24 respectively in the 80's;

He also said in 2001-2003 there was a divorce boom registered in Russia, because the authorities counted EVERY spouse receiving divorce certificate as 1 divorce, so the numbers are in fact double of the real divorce rates for those specific years.
 
He says Russia has relatively low divorce rate if you take the time they existed into account: after 5 years 20% of marriages in Russia fall apart, in Sweden 35%, USA 40%.

Cohabitation without marriage break up after 10 years in 25% of cases, in Italy 35%, Sweden 40%, USA 50%.

By the 5th year of cohabitation, 60% of them register official marriage, usually after childbirth

90% of russian men older than 30 who broke up with spouse/cohabitant find a new woman. For women same age its only 50% who find a new man

By the age of 50 women outnumber men of the same age by 15%, by the age of 60 its almost 50%, after 70 years women outnumber men of the same age by 3.5 times

in 2004 every third child born in Russia was by an unmarried mother, but only 5-8% of women give birth without a constant partner

[Misha]

Aloe,

Thank you for the sources. Interestingly, the stats for Russia pretty much mirror those in Ukraine: i.e. 23.5 being the average age for a first marriage. This compares, for example, to the average age of a first marriage in Canada for a woman of 28.5 years (source: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/070117/dq070117a-eng.htm.

As I wrote in the other thread, this difference of 5 years is significant. Let's take a woman of my wife's age when we married: 26 years old. In Russia, she is already 2.5 years older than the average age. In other words, as noted, most of her friends and acquaintances that are in her cohort have already married or are living with someone. The same 26 year old woman is 2.5 years younger than the average age for a first marriage. In her case, many or most of her friends have yet to get married. It won't be until she is 31 that she will be 2.5 years older than the average age for a first marriage. Which of these two hypothetical women (26-year-old in Russia and 26-year-old in Canada) do you think will be most motivated to marry?

[Boethius]

Here are stats from the US Census.  I'm pretty sure no one can edit them.

http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/hh-fam/ms2.pdf

[OlgaH]

Do Russian women really marry young?

According to the official data of census 2002 on marital status of women at the age 20-24 including urban and rural:

52.6% - never been married

34,3% - in officially registered marriage

8% - in not officially registered marriage

3,6% - divorced

0,33% - widows

%1,13% - did not specify their marital status

If we summarize "official registered marriage", "divorced", and "widows" we will get 38.23%

Urban women (20-24) - %36,38 in official marriage (including widows and divorced)

Rural women (20-24) - %46,58 in official marriage (including widows and divorced)

[Misha]

No question. As you pointed out it has been moving upward and probably will continue to, but nothing dramatic. The vast majority of RW I meet and I have met 1000's are more than ready by age 24 and the ones who haven't been married at that age most likely just haven't found anyone suitable or are too cuckoo for anyone to marry (the former much more likely ). 

That matches my observations as well. There is a significant difference between being 25 and not married because you can't find anybody suitable and being 25 and not married because you do not want to be married or are not in any particular rush to be married.

[Gylden]

Wikipedia is highly unreliable source. It claims there is a 55 ton solid gold Lenin statue buried under moscow state university  unless of course somebody edited that by now and it periodically rains plates and sun sets at the north?

Ah.......the sun does set in the north here right now!!
 

[OlgaH]

The vast majority of RW I meet and I have met 1000's are more than ready by age 24 and the ones who haven't been married at that age most likely just haven't found anyone suitable or are too cuckoo for anyone to marry (the former much more likely ). 

Amazing logic 

Have you ever though that some women prefer to assert themselves socially, have a good stable job, make a career, have some savings, feel financially stable and totally independent from the parents before marriage?     

[ECOCKS]

Amazing logic 

Have you ever though that some women prefer to assert themselves socially, have a good stable job, make a career, have some savings, feel financially stable and totally independent from the parents before marriage?     

In Ukraine? Rarely, but certainly more often over the last few years as horizons expand..

[chivo]

Amazing logic

Thank you 

Have you ever though that some women prefer to assert themselves socially, have a good stable job, make a career, have some savings, feel financially stable and totally independent from the parents before marriage?     

Sure, some do. Most though want a man along with that, sorry.

[Misha]

Have you ever though that some women prefer to assert themselves socially, have a good stable job, make a career, have some savings, feel financially stable and totally independent from the parents before marriage?     

Let's see, my wife did all of this by the age of 25, and she still wanted a husband. She even went to her local Orthodox Church to pray to all the saints specifying what kind of husband she wanted 

[OlgaH]

Thank you 

No problem.

Sure, some do. Most though want a man along with that, sorry.

But it doesn't mean that they want to marry 

[Misha]

But it doesn't mean that they want to marry 

So, Olga, can you give us some examples of these hypothetical women who do not want to marry? How many friends, or daughters of friends, in their twenties do you know who do not want to get married? Yes, in theory, anything can exist, but can you provide us some insight into these women that you personally know who do not have marriage as a priority once they hit their mid-twenties?