The Case for Getting Married Young • Hacker News Board

Re: The Case for Getting Married Young

#31

Post by neutronicus » Thu, Mar 28, 2013, 9:56 PM UTC

jessriedel wrote: post #23

kscaldef wrote: post #12

"Unmarried twenty-somethings are more likely to be depressed, drink excessively, and report lower levels of satisfaction than their married counterparts" Let's all say it together: Correlation is not causation.

As I posted elsewhere, you might be interested in some strong evidence for the causal relationship as described by economist Bryan Caplan: http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2013/03/22_short_argume....

Does he address survivor bias elsewhere?

I've seen elsewhere that financial troubles often herald divorce. If the only marriages that can last are ones where someone's making a premium, then of course you'll see one.

Re: The Case for Getting Married Young

#32

Post by Samuel_Michon » Thu, Mar 28, 2013, 9:57 PM UTC

simonsarris wrote: post #11

Color me unconvinced of marriage per se. Literally zero of the things in the author's marriage are necessarily attributable to the marriage itself, or necessarily consequences of marriage for that matter. And never mind co-habitating, all of the transformative stuff could have happened regardless while simply living with an upbeat roommate. "The case for living with or near positive people that share similar ideals"…

I made a little graph of how I think this works: http://i.imgur.com/2rWGO4y.png

Re: The Case for Getting Married Young

#33

Post by purplelobster » Thu, Mar 28, 2013, 9:59 PM UTC

fusiongyro wrote: post #17

purplelobster wrote: post #7

You don't have to be married to be in a committed relationship. A large percent of couples (> 30%) in Scandinavian countries for example never enter into a marriage, or people might marry 5, 6, 7, 8 years after they're first together. In that sense the marriage is a capstone, but there is no difference between that couple and a couple that got married right away and have been together for 8 years.

What's this, proof by Sweden? :) This odd collection of facts seems wholly disconnected from the content of the article.

The point being that he's confusing a committed relationship with having a marriage certificate. In Europe, of couples with children, > 30% are cohabiting. In Iceland it's > 60%. Do you suggest that 60% of cohabiting Icelanders are unhappy because they don't have a marriage certificate on hand?

Re: The Case for Getting Married Young

#34

Post by neutronicus » Thu, Mar 28, 2013, 9:59 PM UTC

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #26

kscaldef wrote: post #12

"Unmarried twenty-somethings are more likely to be depressed, drink excessively, and report lower levels of satisfaction than their married counterparts" Let's all say it together: Correlation is not causation.

Do you have a hypothesis why "happiness" would correlate with marriage without their being any causative relationship? Correlation does suggest causation though. Isn't it generally sound to assume causation until the position can be falsified?

I'd at least want the "can't get a date" group to be separated from the "had the option of marriage, but didn't pursue it" group.

Re: The Case for Getting Married Young

#35

Post by nawitus » Thu, Mar 28, 2013, 9:59 PM UTC

drcube wrote: post #14

I got married at 18. I joined the Army, did two tours in Iraq, came back home, went to college and got a job as an engineer. I couldn't have done any of that without my wife. I hesitate to generalize, but in my particular case getting married early was a great decision.

Note that you can't really say with certainty you couldn't have that without marriage (as you can have a relationship with someone without marrying her). In addition, there's also many single men who've done the same without marriage.

Re: The Case for Getting Married Young

#36

Post by msg » Thu, Mar 28, 2013, 10:00 PM UTC

I was married at 22, wife was 21. Worked for me!

Beyond that, what can you say? If marriage is wrong for you personally, all the statistics in the world wouldn't and shouldn't convince you otherwise. Your not wanting to get married might be correlated with your being on the wrong side of those statistics.

If marriage is right for you, I doubt this kind of article is how you would find out.

A better article would have listed pros and cons. For instance, pro: the pool of candidates is larger when you're younger; con: the pool of candidates is better when it's smaller. Or whatever is really going on under the numbers. That would be interesting to know.

Re: The Case for Getting Married Young

#37

Post by jacoblyles » Thu, Mar 28, 2013, 10:01 PM UTC

Zimahl wrote: post #29

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> there is no difference between that couple and a couple that got married right away and have been together for 8 years // Anything to back up that assertion?

I don't think he needs to back that up. I mean there isn't a whole lot of difference between an amorous, unmarried couple who cohabitates together or an amorous, married couple who cohabitates together. In the US, other than a document from the state you were married in, there's just about zero difference, other than societal views. (BTW, I know my above doesn't apply to homosexual couples. I'm purposely ignoring it…

Maybe societal views and expectations are an important factor in stability.

Re: The Case for Getting Married Young

#38

Post by fusiongyro » Thu, Mar 28, 2013, 10:02 PM UTC

purplelobster wrote: post #33

fusiongyro wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's this, proof by Sweden? :) This odd collection of facts seems wholly disconnected from the content of the article.

The point being that he's confusing a committed relationship with having a marriage certificate. In Europe, of couples with children, > 30% are cohabiting. In Iceland it's > 60%. Do you suggest that 60% of cohabiting Icelanders are unhappy because they don't have a marriage certificate on hand?

I suggest that American results are more pertinent to Americans than European results are, and vice-versa. Did you see this article from a few days ago?

http://www.psmag.com/magazines/pacific-standard-cover-story/...

Re: The Case for Getting Married Young

#39

Post by smoyer » Thu, Mar 28, 2013, 10:02 PM UTC

Axsuul wrote: post #27

smoyer wrote: post #9

I'm yet another example of a successful early marriage (I was 22 and she was 19). She finished her undergrad and masters degrees after we married and we also started "with nothing but each other". After 30 years, I still can't imagine being with anyone else ... it makes life so much better if you have someone to share your happiness with - and if there are two of you to tackle life's problems together.

Does your wife know that you still can imagine being with someone else?

No ... it's a very well-kept secret. One that I apparently kept even from myself, but couldn't be repressed from my right pinkie and left pointer fingers.

(sorry dear)

Re: The Case for Getting Married Young

#40

Post by jacoblyles » Thu, Mar 28, 2013, 10:03 PM UTC

jessriedel wrote: post #23

kscaldef wrote: post #12

"Unmarried twenty-somethings are more likely to be depressed, drink excessively, and report lower levels of satisfaction than their married counterparts" Let's all say it together: Correlation is not causation.

As I posted elsewhere, you might be interested in some strong evidence for the causal relationship as described by economist Bryan Caplan: http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2013/03/22_short_argume....

It's fun to watch people dismiss a strong statistical signal when it disagrees with their prior beliefs