Don’t Marry Before Age 40, If You’re Smart, Never Get Married - Barker-Vormawor Advises

Oliver Barker-Vormawor, convener of FixTheCountry Ghana, has sparked controversy with his recommendation that celibate individuals avoid marriage before the age of forty or avoid it altogether.

Many of his followers agreed with his suggestion, while others said they were perplexed and needed more information to make a determination.

Barker-Vormawor's school of thought appeared counterintuitive because it had always been recommended that people marry young and have children early enough to be able to fulfil their parental responsibilities before retiring or losing the ability to do so.

Nonetheless, failed marriages and lingering trauma, lessons from other people's failed unions, and the expense of nuptials and dowries, among other factors, have made marriage unattractive to the majority of young people.

The 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHC) report indicates that 405,090 Ghanaians have separated from their spouses, compared to 553,065 whose marriages have been dissolved. This data was collected through interviews with participants of the 2021 PHC, which took place from June 27 to August 15, 2021.