10 Marriage Facts You Need to Know About
Some of them are odd. Others are sweet.
Welcome to The First Years of Marriage Newsletter! We talk about the conversations, challenges, and changes that begin once the honeymoon ends. Advice from experts, mistakes from me (Jen Glantz), and things you’re going to want to know as you continue to ask yourself this question - “I’m married, ow what?”
10 Marriage Facts You Need to Know About
There’s so much about marriage that we don’t know before we get married. We learn along the way. We learn through advice. We learn through mistakes,
Today, I wanted us to learn through some odd facts and stats I found on the internet.
Some might be shocking. Others might be obvious. And some might even be super unforgettable.
Let me know which ones stand out.
Couples who spend more than 5 hours a week together have the most successful marriages. However, I read somewhere else that the average married couple spends just four minutes a day of focused alone time together. So how do we change that? Can we change that?
You know how at the end of the ceremony, the officiant says “you may now kiss the bride/groom”? There’s a reason for that. According to ancient Rome, the kiss is a legal bond that seals the contract.
Marriage changes your life in many ways. But it’s important to know that while marriage may not necessarily make you happier, married adults do live longer and have higher incomes, and not simply because two incomes mean more money.
Does marriage impact your job? Sort of. Approximately $6 billion in revenue is lost by American businesses as a result of decreased worker productivity linked to marriage hardship. Employees in a happy marriage, in contrast, tend to increase a company’s bottom line.
How are you going to know if you and your partner will be happy together for years to come? That answer can rest on a lot of factors. One study I found said that a 15-year-long study found that a person’s happiness level before marriage was the best predictor of happiness after marriage. In other words, marriage won’t automatically make one happy.
Divorce! Divorce! It might not happen as often as you think. In 2019 (the most recent year for this statistic), the divorce rate declined to levels not seen in 50 years — with only about 15 marriages in every 1,000 resulting in divorce. This is a 34% fall from its peak in the 1980s.
Not all married people are miserable - which is a common trope we see in comedy, as the punchline of a joke, or even portrayed in some sitcoms or movies. A 2021 Monmouth Poll found that 92% of married couples were either extremely or very satisfied in their marriage.
The cost of an average wedding is $20,000. The cost of an average divorce is $20,000. Ouch.
The reason we wear our "wedding rings” on our fourth finger is because the Romans believed a vein in this particular finger, called "vena amoris" (a.k.a. the "vein of love"), leads directly to the heart.
Where do the words wife, husband, and marriage come from? “The word “wife” is thought to come from the Proto-Indo-European root weip (“to turn, twist, wrap”) or ghwibh, which has a root meaning “shame” or “pudenda.” Neither of which sounds particularly promising. The word “husband,” on the other hand, derives from the Old Norse husbondi or “master of the house.” The word “spouse” seems to carry less baggage: it has its origins in the Latin wordsponsus "bridegroom" (fem. sponsa "bride"), which comes from the term spondere,meaning "to bind oneself, promise solemnly."Some of you may not be surprised to learn that the term “marriage” comes from the Latin wordmas meaning “male” or “masculine.” The earliest known use of the word in English dates from the 13th century.”
PS. The Newlywed Card Game is officially on AMAZON! We’re proud of that. Grab your game here.
Jen Glantz is a whimsical entrepreneur, 3x author, podcast host, and all-around pizza-obsessed goofball.
Here's what she is currently working on:
The Newlywed Card Game // Books // You're Not Getting Any Younger Podcast
Bridesmaid for Hire // Odd Jobs Newsletter // The First Years of Marriage Newsletter
The Monday Pick-Me-Up Newsletter //Jen & Juice Business & Life Coaching // Company Workshops
