Comments on: Other people’s marriages

By: Walter Olson

Walter Olson — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 19:43:05 +0000

No, my position is precisely that they all *would* marry at home if Vegas and Waikiki weren’t options, which means one should either adjust the figures for the other 48 states upward a bit (to reflect the actual rate at which those states’ citizens are getting married) or compare non-tourist states with averages drawn on other non-tourist states the better to compare apples with apples.

By: bernies

bernies — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 19:33:17 +0000

“a figure that would drop a bit if one took an average that excluded tourism states like Nevada (38.3) and Hawaii (17.6)”

Is it your position that people who travel to Nevada and Hawaii to get married would not marry if they stayed home? If not, can I get to pick states to ec=xcludem too?

By: Walter Olson

Walter Olson — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 17:09:18 +0000

Had anyone argued otherwise? In fact a higher marriage rate can arise from many factors, some with favorable implications for family cohesiveness (a tendency to choose marriage over cohabitation), some with unfavorable (states with high divorce rates will also tend to have higher marriage rates since there will be plenty of remarriages). Beyond that, some states with high marriage rates have job markets that attract many persons of marriageable age, and some are wedding destinations like Nevada and Hawaii. In point of fact, the factual premise of subnormal marriage rates in SSM states turns out to be faulty. Per CDC the national marriage rate is 6.8 per 1,000, a figure that would drop a bit if one took an average that excluded tourism states like Nevada (38.3) and Hawaii (17.6). The marriage rate for SSM jurisdictions is: MA 5.6, VT 9.3, CT 5.6, NH 7.3, IA 6.9, NY 6.5, DC 7.6. "No clear trend" is probably the fairest reading.

By: Marty

Marty — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 14:54:49 +0000

Divorce rates are calculated independently of Marriage rates. Both are per 1000 persons, married or not. It stands to reason that a state with fewer marriages taking place will have less people filing for divorce.

By: Walter Olson

Walter Olson — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 20:28:37 +0000

It’s true, most of my friends in Massachusetts have had only one marriage apiece, and I’m pretty sure there are many places around the country where people outdo that.

By: Marty

Marty — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 19:57:47 +0000

States with low Marriage rates will naturally have low divorce rates. People often spout off about the latter as if it’s a good thing, without considering whether the former is also a good thing.