marriage is related to the attractiveness of the alternatives to .

             marrying. When women value roles that provide viable alternatives to .

             the role of wife, they delay marriage. The role of women has undergone .

             significant transformation brought about by changes in society. .

             Today"s families are smaller and live longer, thereby allowing women .

             to devote a smaller part of their lives to raising children than was .

             the case in earlier times (Allen & Kalish). Thus, more time is left .

             for other pursuits. A woman who enters her first marriage at an older .

             age is less likely to exchange dependence on her parents for .

             dependence on a husband (Unger & Crawford, 1992). Elder (1974) found .

             that women who married later were more likely to have careers, .

             financial stability and be middle class as opposed to lower class .

             background. What has transformed societal attitudes toward marriage so .

             that young women delay it, older women get out of it, and some women .

             skip it altogether? Economic factors, a rise in feminism, parental .

             influences, attitudes about sex, educational pursuits, and the divorce .

             rate have all undergone significant cultural changes and are among .

             some of the reasons being credited for influencing the ideas women .

             have about marriage. Let"s examine these influences and the attitudes .

             of women which determine their decision to marry or delay marriage. We .

             will also examine the expectations of marriage that today"s educated .

             women may have and how these expectations differ from other women"s .

             expectations.

             Economic factors have resulted in women working outside the .

             home, and have had a strong influence over a woman"s decision to .

             marry. "The ever increasing opportunities for women to work outside .

             the home make her less and less dependent, economically, upon a .

             husband" (Casler, 1974, p. 30). Late marrying women indicated that .

             careers took relative precedence over marriage during the period of .