Marriage is not an easy institution, and every couple goes through hard times. You may wonder if what you are experiencing is normal, which may lead you to wonder what is the hardest year of marriage on average.
According to Brides, the hardest year of marriage is the first one. This remains true even in modern times when couples tend to live together prior to marriage, and there are some specific reasons for this.
Combining your lives
Entering into marriage means more than just coming together as a couple. It also adds some additional concerns that you might not have had prior to the union. You now need to balance your finances together. You have to blend your families, which means making a tough decision, such as where to go for the holidays. It also means always thinking about things as a couple and not having the ability to think as a single.
Having higher stakes
Once you marry, you enter into a legal commitment. It can put a lot of stress on you. There is no backing out. You have to work through everything now. The only way to end the relationship is to go before the court and seek a divorce, which is also a stressful process. It can make the relationship feel very heavy, which can lead to resentment.
Dealing with the family
After you marry, you take on the other person's family. If your spouse has issues with his or her family, it can lead to stress for you. Prior to the marriage, you probably felt like you had little say in his or her family matters, but now you are part of the family. You have a stake in things. It can bring about issues you never dealt with before.
In general, the first year of marriage is about adjusting to the new normal. It can be easy to blame anything that goes bad on the marriage, but you have to keep communication open and work on your marriage to get through this first year.