A Social Study of the Russian German Teh 
During the thirty-seven years since their immigration began 
(1877-1914) the average age for Russian German women was 
20.1 years and for the men, 24.9 years. In Massachusetts in 1901 
the average age of all brides was 25.8 years and of all grooms 
29.2 years. 
A change in the marriage age is shown from an analysis of 
the Russian German weddings of the last twenty years.°%° From 
TABLE XV. CHANGE IN MarrtAce AcE or RusstIAN GERMANS IN 1895- 
1904 AND 1905-1914 
Brides Grooms 
ecaeNariace 1895-1904 IQO5-19T4 1895-1904 IQO5-I9T4 
> — 
Num- Per Num- Per Num- | Per Num- Per 
ber Cent. ber Cent. ber Cent. ber Cent. 
HO—-20 years.........- We LOOn On. B12 || O5ok 13 
755 21 4.5 
MOV CALS. rf 08s 5 «al | 65 | 38.0 mG | BOs | WAG | WBoAl 369 78.7 
Over 25 years........ I 6 18 3.9 33 IQ.1 79 | 16.8 
this table it will be seen that more women are marrying at 16-20 
years of age than formerly and fewer men; and fewer women 
are marrying at 21-25 years and more men. ‘The figures for 
over 25 years are less significant, especially for the men, because 
it is probable that some of these are remarriages. 
The change in the marriage age is accounted for largely by 
social and economic conditions. With the poorer class of women, 
the marriage age has fallen; while with the better class, it has 
land tenure.” Bailey, Modern Social Conditions, 153. Of the females, 
58 per cent., and of the males, 37.8 per cent., were under the age of twenty 
years (1872-1880). In Rhode Island for the same period, about 14 per 
cent. of all persons married were under twenty years of age. 
65 Bailey, Modern Social Conditions, 152. 
66 The time covered by the records from 1878 to 1914 falls into three 
periods: (1) 1878-18091, when there were few Russian German immi- 
grants, and considerable intermarrying because of a disproportion of 
sexes; (2) 1892-1804, when a large influx of new immigrants raised the 
marriage rate beyond all normal proportions; and (3) 1895-1914, when an 
equilibrium of sexes and an ordinary movement of population produced 
stable conditions. 
203 
