Marriage and Divorce in present-day Romania

The marriage age for both women and men has increased significantly

Christine Leșcu, 22.07.2020, 14:00

30 years on from the demise of the communist regime in Romania, the country has been through a lot of economic, political and social changes. The private sphere of family relations, including the institution of marriage, has not remained unchanged. Back in the time of the communist regime, the institution of marriage kept its traditional form and young people used to get married at an early age. Marriage was seen as proof of maturity back in the day, and for this reason, shortly after having graduated from high-school or university young people were encouraged to build their own families. The institution of marriage was being encouraged by the communist authorities as well and they resorted to all kinds of measures to discourage the single status. One suchlike measure was to prevent single persons from getting access to state housing. This mentality of getting married at an early age outlived the communist regimes and in 1990 men got married around the age of 25 on an average, while women at 22. A survey recently conducted by Frames Agency shows that major changes have occurred ever since. Not only has the average marriage age for Romanians increased, but the number of those willing to take this step has dropped sharply.

In 1990, the Register Office reported some 192,652 marriages. In 2018 the number of marriages dropped by some 50,000, to 143,292. Right now marriage is no longer a priority for Romanians, as it was during communism, Frames analyst Adrian Negrescu believes:

“In 2018 the situation changed. Right now Romanians marry only when their financial situation allows them to purchase a house and settle down. Now people are more interested in their careers. Women too seem to observe this trend, preferring a stable job first and foremost, that would secure them a stable income. Women are rather interested in everything that can empower them and other topics linked to the dynamic society we live in. In the early 1990s, men married at the age of 25 on average, while women at a little over 22. In the rural area, the marriage age for women was even lower, 21 years. In 2018 men usually marry at around 31 years, and women at 28. Its a significant increase, telling of the changes society has undergone, which make us more mindful about our personal development, family no longer being the top priority”.

In spite of all these, at European level, Romania is among the countries with a high rate of marriages, namely 7.3‰ alongside Lithuania (7.5‰), Cyprus and Latvia (6.8‰) and Malta (6.3‰). Furthermore, although the traditional marriage does not seem to be fashionable any more, longstanding relationships have not disappeared but have taken different, less official forms. Here is analyst Adrian Negrescu with details:

“Nothing has changed, though, on the sentimental side of relationships. There are many couples who decide to live together, in the same house, and with shared money, but they keep postponing the official marriage. They may think that they do not have enough money for a wedding party or are pressed for other economic aspects. Having a family and children requires a lot of expenses. Everybody wants a child, but not everybody has the necessary amount of money to obtain the needed safety. This level of safety, of decent living standards was different in the early 1990s. Now, in the 2000s, economic requirements are different. A child needs more to have a decent living, parents spend more for their childs education and healthcare. All these economic aspects do have an impact on the perception of marriage.”

Economic aspects are not the only factors that change peoples perception of marriage, there is also the vision one has about ones personal happiness. We have become more demanding both of ourselves and of those around us. We are more demanding in relation to our partners behavior, because we have other standards for our own happiness and contentment. We keep postponing the moment of marriage until we find the right person that should comply both with our personal needs and our economic and social status. Once we find that person and make the relationship official, separation seems to be a rare option, because divorce statistics show that Romanians find it even harder to get a divorce than getting married. Here is Adrian Negrescu back at the microphone with more:

“If back in 1990 the number of divorces reported was 32 thousand, in 2018 the figure dropped to 30 thousand. It is not a significant drop, but it shows that people have become more mature. We pay more attention to our relationship and to the ways of managing the problems that may appear. We have learnt or are learning how to build a longstanding relationship. And this means more than sharing a house. It means more attention granted to the partner and to his or her expectations, it means learning to build together. Another interesting aspect is the age at which Romanians get a divorce. In 2018, the average age of men who were getting a divorce was 43 and 39 for women. So, Romanians get a divorce at a mature age. In the case of men, this age somehow coincides with the so-called midlife crisis, between 40 and 50 years. In my opinion, women have different reasons to get a divorce. Whats important for them is their contentment or discontentment with the relationship per se. In general, young women are more mature than young men, they pay more attention to aspects that men often miss. Women want more from a relationship, when they get engrossed in the traditional marriage pattern, career women try to get out of that relationship, because they want more. The age of 39 is not accidental, because, at that age, many women will have obtained economic independence, and their expectations from life come to differ from those of the man they married when young.”

Within the EU, with a divorce rate of 1.5‰ Romania is halfway in a classification in which Latvia and Lithuania (with 3.1‰) and Denmark (3.0‰) report the highest divorce rates. The lowest divorce rates at European level are registered in Malta (0.8 ‰) and Greece (1,0‰).