Which statement about the ages of first-time brides and grooms in the United States is true?

• A. They are younger than in the past.
• B. They are about the same as in the past.
• C. They are older than at any other time in U.S. history.
• D. The data show no clear trend.

Answer: (D)

A key idea here is how the age at first marriage has changed over time in the United States. Over the past several decades, people have been waiting longer to marry, with both women and men marrying later on average. This upward shift has continued to the present, and recent decades have seen the oldest ages on record for first-time marriages. Because of this clear and sustained increase, the statement that first-time brides and grooms are older than at any other time in U.S. history best captures what the data show. The other descriptions don’t fit the pattern: the ages are not younger than in the past, there is a definite upward trend rather than no trend, and the rise is evident across both genders, not just in isolated cases.