Blogadder gets it all wrong in this post on the trend in late marriages. He argues that marriages are happening later due to "a combination of longer educational hauls (as college has become ubiquitous and graduate degrees increasingly the norm) and an all-encompassing uncertainty about one's security: financial, personal, everything. Why add a family to worry about until things are more concrete?"
I think this take is putting the cart before the horse. People are delaying marriage because they don't think it's important to begin their families until they are in their mid-thirties, when they plan to have two children. In addition, they are willing to postpone marriage because they see it as something they will do when they have reached a certain stage of life, rather than understanding that the essence of marriage is to _grow together_ into a stable and life-giving relationship.
Blogadder also notes that people are starting their adult lives later than they used to. How can this be a good thing? This outlook only excuses immature and irresponsible behavior, which can't be good for any society.
The best information I have seen on this trend is a survey that found that the "singles mating culture" of cheap relationships, numerous breakups, and "just having fun" actually creates poorer candidates for marriage among both men and women, rather than developing the traits of responsibility and self-discipline required for a successful marriage.
Finally, Blogadder asks, "Is there a timetable here?" Why yes, actually, there is. It takes nine months to bear a child, a woman only has about 20-30 years of fertility, it takes time to meet someone and assure that their goals and values are the same as yours, etc, etc. While men definitely have an advantage in this area, I have seen firsthand the change in a 28-year-old woman who's only too thrilled to be seen at the right night spots, have casual sex, climb the ladder at work, and wear the latest outfits, and then suddenly realizes she's 31 and has no prospects for marriage even dimly on the horizon. It's not pretty to see a woman fling herself at the closest available man who seems like he might marry her.