ABSTRACT
The modal age at marriage for both men and women was between 20 and 23. Most people looked forward to having children, and this explains why so many women gave up their jobs at marriage. Most men were slightly older than the women they married, although the disparity in ages was usually not more than three years. When a woman gave up her job at the time of marriage or early in her first pregnancy, the entire economic support of the family fell upon the man. The first child was usually born during the first or second year of marriage. Some early marriages had been precipitated by unpleasant conditions at home. The age at marriage of men and women in the Private sample did not differ from that in the Relief group. There were, however, no "forced" marriages. Children came along shortly after marriage, but there were a higher percentage of childless and one-child families.
