Households changes overtime
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Almost 1/3 married with no kids in the 1960s seems high, no?
Im part of the 16.3% my father and I lease together. Also my partner is in the home. We have 3 children in the home (2 from previous marriage and our son) my 2 daughters are only with us part time. And I am expecting a 4th. The reason for this living situation started out as financial and for stability for me and my children when I got clean from drugs. My father supported us. The roles have reversed and I support everyone. My partner is currently looking for work and will take over that role so I can stay home with our children. He has been home to raise our son for the past 15 months. Childcare is more costly than us both working can even afford. My life was pretty rough up until a few years ago. In the spring my father will go live with my sister and my partner and I will love out to a house with our children. Eventually we will marry.
For us, we were together 8 years before marriage and had a child together. We only got married for upcoming immigration needs (we are moving to a country that needs us to be spouses to be recognised as a family). Laws have changed. In the UK now compared to a few decades ago, we had joint everything. Joint bills, banks, insurances, wills, investments, tenancies, legal next of kin. Most things that married people have we can have here as unmarried partners as they are legally recognised. So to many, marriage is an unnecessary expense xx
@Van 7.4% single parents seems pretty low for the current times to me.
@Brianne agreed!
Cost of living. People can’t afford daycare. Also can’t afford to stay home. Also can’t afford to buy a home. It’s nearly impossible to get childcare and the household needs 2 incomes just to stay afloat.
The way this is worded, “married no kids” and “single no kids” could include older adults whose children no longer live with them. The baby boomers are currently in that age group…there’s a lot of them!
@Laura Especially since it looks like it's based on census data and I believe those questions are a lot more focused on "who lives here" than "who are the family members".
I didn't want kids in my 20s. I wanted to live my life and I wasn't overly fussed if kids never happened. I've never been broody and it wasn't one of those thing that was a must in life. What was a must was getting my mental health back on track and that meant doing things I liked to do and enjoying my life. Honestly the cost of kids did put me off ever having any. I have no money currently and about to have even less. I won't have any money again until she is out of school because nursery costs and then when she goes to school there will be after school clubc I'm sure she will want to do which start to add up.
It’s too complex an issue to only have 1 reason for the change. One big reason though is that now there are options. In the past it was expected you fell in love as a teen, got married soon after and had kids.
A lot more single people. When we see all type of abuse in relationship. In old times, women used to accept everything. Nowadays standard is higher. When I see some comments over here, lots of women would do better at being single instead of be with violents or/and useless guys...
I think it’s related to societal changes? Women are not as dependent on men and delay having children to make a career for themselves and get financially stable and independent.
Interesting topic I have a lot of thoughts on this but I think the economy and cost of living, changing values around family and sex are what caused it. There is also a huge loneliness epidemic and declining birth rates due to this (there are news stories and studies on this also if you do some searching online). It’s a complex issue with several factors intertwined, some folks may be short sighted and fail to realize that it may be the “in thing” now to be single but when you’re old it’s a long road alone when no one is around. Anyways, to each their own as personal preference also is a factor.
In addition to changing societal views, I think some of it is just sheer numbers. There are TONS of baby boomers who are all age 60+ without minor kids at home, and plenty of Gen Xers with grown kids too. That skews the numbers to married or single with no kids (depending on their marital status). I think the more telling numbers would be this chart but for people in a certain age range who are more likely to have minor children.
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Right now I'm the 16.3% because me and my mom share an apartment together for now . My son's father is not In the picture at all I have full legal and physical custody of mine and my ex husband son and he has no visitation or parental rights . I have done everything for our child by myself since birth. Mind you he cheated on me while I was 6 months pregnant . We are now divorced and both the divorce case and the custody case is now sealed and closed.
It’s a complex subject. People are graduating college later and starting their careers first. You also have a culture of wanting free time and low commitment in the dating world through college and young adult life because they have too much going on to manage preparing for marriage and kids. Also, economical reasons are a large part and the state of the country. I know many people who want to have a child but don’t feel comfortable doing so until Trump is out of office and they feel like they are responsibly doing so.
@Van the drop didn’t change much. What could be the drive other than cost? Do people feel happier without kids?? I guess that mean some have different objectives for saying married.
Changes in societal and family values is probably the biggest driver as well as norms around sexuality. there is also the issue of delaying adulthood, some have coined it “Peter Pan” syndrome (you can find this online). this idea of telling people you have unlimited time or that 40 years old is the new 30 for example created a false sense of youth where people delay many milestones of life, only to find they have aged and their body cannot always keep up with the 20 year old self they have in their mind for example and those things they want to do that may have been delayed. There is probably a nice middle ground somewhere in between where you can take your time but not waste it to where it’s hard to catch up 🤷🏽♀️
@Sarah I hear you and I think this is a valid reason some get married - the regulation of a specific country influence people's decision. In the US, married couples benefit more when filling tax jointly (two individuals treated as one unit), singles get taxed the most and head of household status and qualified survival are next. I have come to realize the tax system is a major determinant when deciding being single/married with dependant in the US. However, I don’t believe some people give the check and balance serious thinking.
@Tima yeah, here in the UK there’s little to no tax benefit to marriage anymore sadly ☹️ I love that for you though, extra bonus!
@Natalina I read a report this morning that reveals the cost of buying a home has doubled since the pandemic. Now, an average American household will have to earn $109k annually to be able to purchase a home in low cost area such as Iowa, Alabama, Virginia, etc. And $200k in high cost areas such as NY, California, etc. The conversations we had on a post I shared two weeks ago about the American dream being expensive is pratically realistic! And the cost of daycare last time I refer a friend to my then daycare, she was charging $700 a week. This is Brooklyn, NY by the way ☹️😕
@Kay you absolutely right! Many determinants driving people’s choice and alot has to do with policies, change in administration, tax laws, global economy at large. Even a thing as carbon footprint is a factor for some. I have heard someone say they are better off single with no car. Some feel being single mean less waste in the landfill! Isn’t that an incredible perspective. I would have never thought about the waste a family add to landfill or even emission we dump looking at someone with no car versus a family who need one to get chores done! It is an instresting topic!
Too much focus on economy right now based on the comments I read. If things are expensive then being a couple means pooling your resources, while being single makes it harder to pay rent. I don’t think economy is the only driving factor, it’s a change in values around marriage and commitment because economically it makes sense to be a couple and share your resources if times are tough, but yet the opposite is happening so there must be other driving factors to it
I look at it as the spiritual state in America, the family is broken , mental health is really spiritual health, everything is about keeping us physically sick, so many couples can’t have kids, we have a culture of violence and death, it’s so many things that are happening and we are seeing the world changing right before our very eyes…the older generations that did have good family values and did have healthier food and lifestyles and believed in God are dying out and we are left with generations that are all for self, the world is getting more and more evil and I don’t think people really understand what is happening and why
@Yasmina 💯
I didnt want to get married for personal reasons but had to for health insurance I never thought I would have kids and it happened for me and my son brought my life purpose