USA Today published some statistics that raise some interesting questions.
A USA TODAY analysis of the new Census figures shows that just 23.5% of men and 31.5% of women ages 20-29 were married in 2006. (The analysis excludes those who are married but separated.) Both the number and percentage of those in their 20s fell from 2000, when 31.5% of men and 39.5% of women were married.
The trend toward delaying marriage has emerged over several decades as economic and social forces have made it more difficult for those in their 20s to reach independence. Sociologists and demographers say other factors are also at work, including increasing numbers of cohabiting couples, more highly educated women who have fewer highly educated men of comparable age to partner with, and more choices open to women than in decades past.
If in holding off marriage, one also holds of on having children, what kind of effects will this shift have on individuals starting families during the prime years of their careers? Will we be seeing a decline in birth rate, or will parenting years be shifted to later in life?
Also, isn’t it about time we address the notion that marriage is an outdated practice? Women no longer need the financial security of marriage, since they’re increasingly more educated and equally as ambitious in the workplace as men. Men are increasingly able to take care of domestic chores. Will we see a new type of domestic arrangement take marriage’s place as Gen Y matures?
No related posts.
0 Response to “Putting Marriage on Hold”