Marriages in New Jersey decreased considerably (13.8%) in 1998 from the previous year, while divorces only decreased by 0.9 percent (Table MD1 and Figure MD1). Though median ages of both first time brides and grooms and total brides and grooms have been slowly increasing, they remained fairly constant between 1997 and 1998 (Table MD2 and Figure MD2). However, the percentages of first time brides and grooms under 20 and under 25 years of age continued to decrease substantially (Table MD3 and Figure MD3). Previous marital status of brides and of grooms has been fairly stable over the past ten years (Table MD5).

MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE DATA TABLES
Table MD1	Marriages and Divorces, 1988-1998
Table MD2	Median Age at Marriage, 1988-1998
Table MD3	First-Time Brides and Grooms by Age, 1988-1998
Table MD4	Marriages by Age of Bride and Age of Groom
Table MD5	Marriages by Previous Marital Status, 1988-1998
Table MD6	Previous Marital Status of Bride and of Groom
Table MD7	Marriages by Race and County of Occurrence
Table MD8	Marriages by County and Month of Occurrence
Table MD9	Marriages and Divorces by County of Occurrence
MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE ILLUSTRATIONS
Figure MD1	Marriage and Divorce Rates, 1988-1998
Figure MD2	Median Age at First Marriage, 1988-1998
Figure MD3	First-Time Brides and Grooms Under 25 and Under 20 Years of Age, 1988-1998