Marriage Rates: On the Decline Among English-Speaking Hispanics [INSIGHT]

Hispanic Adult Millennials place a high value on marriage – but they also see it as risky. Hit hard by the recession, money is a major impediment to finding a partner and setting a wedding date. Weddings are expensive, as is moving out of Mom and Dad’s house and living independently. Hispanic Adult Millennials also have goals they want to accomplish before tying the knot, like finding a career, establishing financial stability, and being happy. True romantics at heart, they hope to marry that perfect partner – someday. For now, however, they are taking their time to make sure their boyfriends or girlfriends live up to their ideals.

In short, Hispanic Adult Millennials are delaying marriage because it’s so important to them. Before saying, “I do,” they want to have their lives in order and be sure that they can really trust their partners.

Those were key insights from Tr3s’s study Hispanic Adult Millennials Living the Next Normal: Age of Uncertainty. Tr3s is currently fielding its 2014 study, which will focus on Hispanic Adult Millennials and their relationships to work and play. As part of this endeavor, Tr3s has analyzed a six-year trend of marriage rates among the 18-34 demographic – and it appears that Hispanic Adult Millennials’ recession-related focus on work has taken a toll on their willingness or ability to commit to marriage. Here are some of Tr3s’s most recent findings:

o    Foreign-born, Spanish-dominant Hispanics 18-34 are most likely to be married. In 2008, 54% of this group was married, and 55% were married in 2013. Compared to the other groups examined, they’ve had a relatively stable marriage rate — over 50% for five of the last six years.

o    Marriage rates are lower – and falling faster – among English-speaking Hispanics. In 2013, just 25% of bilingual and 19% of English-dominant, third-generation Hispanics 18-34 were married.  While both groups have seen precipitous declines in their marriage rates, the English-dominant, third-generation segment has fallen more dramatically – down 44% from 2008 to 2013, compared with a 26% decline for bilinguals.

o    Marriage is also on the wane among non-Hispanics 18-34 – though they’re more likely to be married than English-speaking Hispanics. With 33% married in 2013, non-Hispanics 18-34 are 17% less likely to be married now than in 2008. While they have a higher marriage rate than English-speaking Hispanics, they’re still significantly less likely to have made their relationship official than foreign-born, Spanish-dominant Hispanics.  

Source: Tr3s 2012 “Hispanic Adult Millennials Living the Next Normal: Age of Uncertainty,” Experian Simmons Summer 2012 Full Year and Summer 2008 Full Year