If you’re pondering things that didn’t happen in the U.S. during the heart of the pandemic, marriage may well top the list. The number of couples tying the knot was the lowest recorded since 1963.
But with the end of lockdowns, loosened restrictions on masking and most folks back to work, the numbers bounced up sharply — 18% — in 2021 compared to 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention blog.
That was its own kind of record, what CDC blogger Brian Tsai called “the biggest year-to-year increase since the end of World War II.” And the CDC noted that every state except North Dakota saw an increase, as did Washington, D.C. Idaho’s increased, but not to a degree that was statistically significant.
Still, the number of marriages are well below the rate of marriage before the pandemic. Marriage numbers are lagging and have been declining for about seven years. As the Deseret News reported in August 2021, “wedding bells have to ring loud and long and make up for the large pandemic decline.”
The national marriage rate was 6.0 in 2021, meaning 6.0 marriages per 1,000 population. According to the CDC, the states with the highest marriage rates in 2021 were:
- Nevada (26.2).
- Hawaii (12.8).
- Montana (11.0).
- Utah (9.1).
- Arkansas (8.2).
The CDC notes that was the location of the ceremony, not necessarily where the happy couple resides.
A CDC Health E-Stats report from April 2020 noted the downward trend in marriage. “Studies have shown that adults in the United States are increasingly postponing marriage, and that a record number of current youth and young adults are projected to forego marriage altogether,” it said to explain the trend.
That report noted benefits of marriage, which include “correlation with positive outcomes and longevity.”
Other experts cite other benefits, including serving as a “hedge against loneliness,” as Brad Wilcox, executive director of the National Marriage Project, told the Deseret News in October.
The 2022 American Family Survey has tracked marriage for its entire eight years noting that in 2015, half of adults were married, while in 2022 the number was 45%. Meanwhile, those not in a relationship rose from 32% to 37% in that same time frame.
That survey of 3,000 adults is conducted by YouGov for Deseret News and BYU’s Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy.
That there’s an uptick post-pandemic is no surprise. The Wedding Report surveyed 2,229 consumers and 283 wedding-related businesses during the pandemic slowdown and found found that a fifth of 2021 weddings had been rescheduled to 2022. At that time, many photographers, caterers, venues and others who play a role in wedding ceremonies said they were seeing a slight surge in business.