The Nation - News from June 12, 1987

Americans have set simultaneous records for most marriages in one year and lowest marriage rate in history, the National Center for Health Statistics reported. A new national record of 2,477,192 couples married in 1984, 1% more than the number in 1983, the federal agency said. At the same time, the marriage rate for the most eligible women, those between the ages of 15 and 44, fell to an all-time low of 99.0 per 1,000, from 99.3 per 1,000 in 1983. The increase in total marriages was about the same percentage as overall population growth in the year, but the 15-44 age group was growing faster, resulting in a lower marriage rate.