The American Journal of Sociology

Marriage increased in the United States from I920 to I930 even when age, nativity, and urban-rural composition are held constant. Early marriage is not increasing. Urban-rural differences and sex differences are less. There are fewer widowed. The volume of marriage among men is nearly the same under varying social conditions, while among women it varies more widely. The large cities discourage marriage, if farms be taken as the norm, by I5 per cent. The country is becoming somewhat more homogeneous in respect to marriage. There have been a number of significant changes in regard to marriage in the United States since the census of I920. In this paper there will be analyzed and discussed a number of the more important changes for which data exist. THE INCREASE IN MARRIAGE The number of marriages increased, per unit of population, from I920 to I930. In I920 there were 599 married out of every i,ooo persons fifteen years old and older, while in I930 there were 605. Why has there been an increase in the numbers married? One possible reason is that the adult population of the present day may have a greater average age than the population of earlier decades, for among the younger ages there are fewer married than among those a little older. There is a technique which can be used to eliminate this variation in age of the population between different years so that comparisons can be made in the percentages married on the basis of populations of the same age. Applying this technique,