Factors associated with religious and civil marriages

Religious preference and educational level appear to be the major characteristics accounting for variation by age at marriage among Americans. Differences in age at marriage by educational attainment have been definitively documented in census reports, while those by religion have been based largely on analyses of the experience in the two states where religion is a separate item on the marriage certificate. This current study of category of ceremony data, as reported on marriage certificates, indicates that this item can, for some purposes, fairly adequately serve as a substitute source of data for specific religious information. Data for Maryland residents, showing that persons involved in Jewish and Catholic weddings marry later than those in Protestant ceremonies, are in close agreement with findings obtained in a national probability sample which ascertained religious preference and age at marriage.