Washington ? It used to be common for men and women to get a marriage certificate not too long after collecting their high school diploma. Not anymore.

Census Bureau figures for 2003 show one-third of men and nearly one-quarter of women between the ages of 30-34 have never been married, nearly four times the rates in 1970.

It’s further evidence young people are focusing on education and careers before settling down and beginning families, experts say. Societal taboos about couples living together before marriage also have eased, said Linda Waite, a University of Chicago sociologist.

Data from the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey released this week show the age at which someone typically marries for the first time rose from 20.8 for women and 23.2 for men in 1970 to 25.3 and 27.1, respectively, last year.

In 1970, only 6 percent of women 30-34 had never been married; the figure was 23 percent in 2003. The rate for never-married men in the same age group rose from 9 percent to 33 percent.

Among younger women, some 36 percent of those 20 to 24 had never been married in 1970; last year it was 75 percent. Among men in that age group, it was nearly as dramatic: 55 percent in 1970 to 86 percent last year.

“The majority of people still want to get married, but they see it sort of as dessert now, something that’s desirable rather than necessary,” said Dorion Solot, executive director of the Albany, N.Y.-based Alternatives to Marriage Project, which aims to fight discrimination based on marital status and to seek equality and fairness for unmarried people.

“People want to be more sure that they don’t make a marriage mistake,” Solot said.