Marriage in the Ancient Regime Family life went through a significant change in the 18 th century.

Parish records indicate that the extended family was already a rare phenomenon in western Europe by – Young married couples usually established their own households instead of moving in with one of their parents. Almost certainly for this reason, people did not marry young in the 17 th & 18 th centuries, except for the aristocrats. – In some cases, the averaged age was 25 years of age, in others 27 or 28 at time of first marriage, and some never married at all. – Men and women had usually worked for about ten years and were fully formed adults by time of marriage.

In some areas, another delay to marriage was that permission from local lords or government officials was needed to marry. Illegitimacy was relatively low until 1750, perhaps one in 20 or fewer, although about 1/5 to 1/3 of all children were conceived before marriage. – It reflects strong community controls that could pressure young couples to marry. Community intervention in private life continued after marriage, with public rituals that humiliated or degraded people whose behavior, adultery or abusive treatment of a spouse.

These patterns began to change in the mid 18 th century. – Illegitimacy rates soared from about 1750 to 1850, reaching more than 25%, even up to 1/3 of all births. – More young people were engaging in premarital sex, and fewer men were marrying women they had impregnated. Growth of the cottage industry meant income was no longer tied to land, so younger people become independent and married earlier, and more often for love. As populations grew, more and more young people moved to cities in search of economic opportunities or jobs, and such mobility further encouraged sexual freedom.

Young girls, poorly paid as domestic or textile works, still hoped for marriage, and often were enticed into sexual relationships with the promise of marriage. This pattern is quite similar to contemporary American practice; both reflect the inability of community controls to force marriage and enforce sexual conduct. Many commentators, then and now, see high rate of illegitimacy as signs of social decline.