Are America’s mysterious millennials actually just closeted traditionalists?
A new survey by the Census Bureau released this month undercuts allegations that our generation is rejecting conventional aspects of adulthood like marriage and children.
Delaying those decisions? Sure. Abandoning them? Apparently not.
The study compares data from today with data from 1975 to chart the changing patterns of the “young adult population,” defined in the report as 18-34 year-olds.
“For the most part,” the study observes, “we can still find the same high levels of marriage and parenthood from the 1970s, we just have to look at older ages today.”
Per the Census Bureau:
In 1976, over two-thirds of women, some 69 percent, were mothers by the time they were 25 to 29 years old … To find that same proportion today we have to look among women who are aged 30 to 34. The retreat is far more pronounced for marriage. In 1976, some 85 percent of women and 75 percent of men were married by the time they were 29 years old. To find at least that same proportion today, we have to look among people in their early 40s.
Sure, it’s taking millennials longer to embrace these traditional lifestyle choices, but they’re still winding up married with children like their parents. And Al Bundy.
There are, of course, consequences to delaying both marriage and children. And a host of potential variables can explain the trends. But this is one millennial myth that seems less convincing in the face of hard data.
Emily Jashinsky is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
