MARRIAGE AGE
25 IS THE RIGHT AGE to get hitched, say non-BYU college students, according to a nationwide study led by family life professor Brian J. Willoughby (BS ’04) and published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships.
26 IS THE AGE their parents think is right for marriage. In the study, parents prioritized education.
27 IS THE MEDIAN AGE for first marriages, according to the 2010 U.S. Census—up from 23 in 1980. Willoughby says Latter-day Saints usually marry about two years younger than the national average.
25 PERCENT OF BYU STUDENTS are married—not much change from 24 percent in 1980, when the university started tracking marital status.
HISPANICS LIVE LONGER
1/4 OF HISPANIC AMERICANS live in poverty—yet their life expectancy is 80.6, three years higher than the national average. BYU professors Timothy B. Smith (BS ’91) and Patrick R. Steffen (BS ’93), with John Ruiz from the University of North Texas, examined this paradox in the American Journal of Public Health.
17.5 PERCENT is how much lower the mortality risk of Hispanic Americans is than that of Caucasians and African Americans, despite similar rates of conditions like diabetes and heart disease. The researchers hypothesize that family support common in Hispanic cultures might make them more resilient in battling illness.
