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While I am a generation earlier (or two) than most of you, the pressure was definitely there for my peer group. Most of us married someone we met in college, about a year after graduating. Those who didn't go to college got married earlier. There was definitely pressure in the Italian culture. When I attended a second cousins' high school graduation party, (I graduated the same year), her dad asked me "So, you are graduated too, when are you getting married?". My mom saved me by saying "We have to check out these men and make sure they're good enough for her". He replied "You wan't anybody checked out, you let me know"... lol. We suspect he's in a "family" business.
Here's the way I see it, in my area anyway: One of my grandmothers was married at 16, one was married at 17. My mom was a rare woman who went to college and she quit after two years to marry my dad (age 21). I finished college and got a job, then got married (age 24). I figure my daughter will finish college, grad school, maybe her PhD (she's a bright gal!) and then get married after her career is very firmly established. (probably 28-30).
The age gets later and later as women develop higher career goals and expectations.
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