<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"   Photo: iStock  Though you might think that everyone you know is getting engaged\u2014one Facebook relationship-status update at a time\u2014you might want to think again. At least, when it comes to the marriage part. As Mindy Kaling so eloquently put it in her book, &amp;quot;I live in godless Los Angeles, where if you&amp;#039;re engaged it simply means you&amp;#039;re publicly announcing that you&amp;#039;re dating a person monogamishly.&amp;quot; Turns out barely half of all adults in the United States are married, a record low. The study, done by the Pew Research Center analysis of the US Census data, found that 51 percent of American adults are married, a 5 percent drop from the previous year and a super steep drop from the 57 percent who were married in 2000. Not only that, but the median age that people tend to wed has reached an all-time high: brides are over 26 and grooms 29. That means that the median age for first marriage has risen by about six years (for both men and women) over the past 50 years. One of the biggest shifts comes among young-adult newlyweds. Fewer adults age 18-24 are getting married\u20149% in 2010 and 45% in 1960\u2014probably because more are in college or focused on starting their careers. If the trend continues, in just a few years there will be more single Americans than married. So why such a huge change? As every other long lead essay has told you this year, the idea of the nuclear family has changed drastically from the 1950s to now\u2014think I Love Lucy vs. Brangelina). More American couples have opted to live together first and wed later, which of course leads to a sense of comfort and commitment that makes an engagement seem unnecessary. So if you&amp;#039;re hoping he&amp;#039;ll put a ring on it, don&amp;#039;t hold your breath. (Kidding!) "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.elle.com/life-love/sex-relationships/news/a7955/all-time-low-marriage-rate-what-does-it-mean-34106/?click=smart&kw=ist&src=smart&mag=ELM&link=-SMT-ELM>