Marriage during college?

Mombot
Mon, 08 Oct 2007 20:05:08 +0000

Our friends got married at 19, at the end of freshman year, because they were pregnant. Their son was born sophomore year and they took turns going to class and caring for him (this was before the days of on-campus day care). By the time their careers were underway he was in kindergarten. They were not able to get pregnant again until they were 35–when all of their friends were having first babies! My friend says juggling baby #1 and college was a LOT easier than juggling baby #2 and two full time full-on careers in their mid '30s. Their older was by then in high school–so they had that to juggle as well.

I wonder if it would be easier to balance career and family if the pendulum swung back to favor starting families before careers demanded so much time and energy, especially for women who have to take time away from work to deal with childbirth and recovery.