One study suggests that this increased age at first marriage could be one of the reasons the climbing divorce rates have leveled off the last few years. However, there are some social as well as personal disadvantages for young adults to postpone marriage until much older ages. The first and most obvious disadvantage is the loss of childbearing years as a married couple. Also, as a health factor, the female body tends to handle childbearing better in its twenties than in its thirties. Heaton's study found no social benefits of delaying marriage past a person's mid-twenties.
Marriage also inhibits dangerous and antisocial behavior among young adult males.
Crime rates, for example, are highly correlated with a large percentage of unmarried young males in the population. And generally speaking, delaying marriage leaves young adults with an increased exposure to the hazards of nonmarital sex and the diseases that come with that choice. The research is silent when it comes to picking an age to get married. However, the research does show that society benefits from a lower divorce rate when a couple marries in their twenties instead of in their teens. Factors of maturity, education and a more secure job situation help marriages last.