Another possible factor was the Texas economy. The decline in marriages during the second half of the 1980 s coincided with a downturn in our state s economy. A flagging economy might result in postponement of marriage, thereby causing falling marriage rates. The majority of marriages, however, still tend to occur among young adults. In 1996, the age group with the greatest number of people marrying was 20 to 24 years of age followed by 25 to 29 years of age, regardless of gender.
Females continue to get married at an earlier age than males.
Although the numbers of males and females getting married between the ages of 20 and 29 is approximately equal, the age cohorts on either side of this group clearly show the gender difference. Females make up 68.9 percent of the teenagers who married in 1996, while males comprise 54.5 percent of those 30 or older who married. There were 95,185 divorces reported to the Bureau of Vital Statistics in 1996, a decrease of 2.1 percent from the 97,183 divorces reported for 1995. Since 1970, the first year of reliable reporting, the number of Texas divorces rose consistently and rapidly until a peak was reached in 1981 with 101,856 divorces. Crude divorce rates have followed the same pattern as the divorce numbers.