WHEN WOMEN MARRY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVI, Issue 112, 7 November 1908, Page 11

WHEN WOMEN MARRY.

To begin with, the average age of the marrying woman has increased. Taking all marriages of whatever kind, the averago age of the wife at the time of marriage is 26Jf years, v/hile that of tho husband is 28$ years. Both ages reprasent a continuous increase. In particular, the numbor of women who marry under tho age of 21 has become considerably less. At one time "sweot seventeen" was almost a commonplace as a bride; to-da.y sho is rare. In tho last 30 years brides of under 21 years of ago have decreased in every 1000 marriages from 217 to 152. From the ago point of view, a woman's best chance of marriage lies between the ages of 20 and 30, but tho years which lio beyond these do not by any means eliminate a good chance. For instance, of the 257,856 women _ who married in England and Wales in the, last recorded year, six married at fourteen years of age, nine at fifteen, 121 at sixteen, 987 at seventeen, 5622 at eighteen, 12,793 at nineteen, and 19,830 at 20. Between the ages of 21 and 25 no fewer than 103,426 women married. Of these 102,964 were spinsters and 462 wero widowa. Again taking up tho record, one gathers that between 25 arid 30 68,203 married; between 30 and 35, 22,063; from 35 to 40, 9772; from 40 to 45, 4294; between that and 50, 3J25 ; from the half century to 55, 1817; from that ago to 60, 931; and above 60, as many as 574. Nor is tho chance of tho widow a poor one. While young, the number of women who are widows is naturally small ; yet 462 widows remarried under the age of 25. They are, of course, easily outstripped by the spinsters between the ages of 20 and 40 ;.. but at the latter ago it is already a close race between them — 2514 widows and 2780 spinsters of that age having married in the year taken. And after that age tho widows have it all their own way, for between 40 and 45, 1915 widows married to 1210 spinsters , between 45 and 50, 1257 widows to 560 spinsters; from then up to 50, 729 widows married, as against 202 spinsters; and from that age to 60 there wero as many as 600 widows in comparison with 68 spinsters. The advantage is kept up to the very last, foi of tho blushing brides of 75 years of age, thirteen wero widows and only one was a spinster.