Posted on 09/28/2014 7:11:51 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
The anecdotal evidence that Americans are remaining single longer into their lives has more and more data backing it up. No longer is it merely the musings of worried relatives hoping to see that young man or woman in their life find a spouse. According to a recent story over at Bloomberg—Is Everybody Single?—we’ve reached a statistical, verifiable relationship tipping point as a society; one with far-reaching implications.
Single Americans make up more than half of the adult population for the first time since the government began compiling such statistics in 1976.
Some 124.6 million Americans were single in August, 50.2 percent of those who were 16 years or older, according to data used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in its monthly job-market report. That percentage had been hovering just below 50 percent since about the beginning of 2013 before edging above it in July and August. In 1976, it was 37.4 percent and has been trending upward since.
The initial gut-reaction to such news from most fellow Millennials I know is typically something akin to, “So what? I’m living my life and there’s nothing wrong with being single.”
But I would say let’s not jump right to the internalizing of perceived judgments here. Let’s take a step back and think through some of the consequences—intended or otherwise—of a society and culture that is increasingly dominated by single people. Economist Edward Yardeni authored the report in question and reminded its readers that the rise in the percentage of single Americans has very definite “…implications for our economy, society, and politics.”
Singles, particularly younger ones, are more likely to rent than to own their dwellings. Never-married young singles are less likely to have children and previously married older ones, many of whom have adult children, are unlikely to have young kids, Yardeni wrote. That will influence how much money they spend and what they buy.
One of the motivating factors behind the advancement of any civilization—and especially ours—has been the desire to leave a better world for one’s children and grandchildren. With more Americans staying single later into life, the amount of children they do end up having is considerably less than even a few decades ago.
When you are single you are less likely to save and invest your money. Your purchasing habits are very different and the industries that grow are less likely to be manufacturing and product-based and more likely to be entertainment and consumption-based. Single people want to spend their money on new apps for their smart phone (built in Asia) more so than for better housing or infrastructure.
Politically, folks who can’t be bothered to start and look after their families are more likely to turn to the government to solve their problems so that they can focus on sampling local microbrews and keeping up their compelling Instagram accounts. The pounding of the “income inequality” drum is a popular tactic by many politicians, but rarely do they share the contextual data that reveals a big reason for the jump in income inequality is the rise of singleness (because single people don’t usually make as much as a married couple can).
In my opinion, none of this is good for country or culture. As I wrote in an Acculturated piece last year, the lowering of the bar for what is expected of men in particular is a set-back, not a liberation. I spent my 20’s having fun with friends and taking the sight-seers tour through college and graduate school before meeting my wife and realizing I had been nothing short of selfish to wait so long. Of course I had many wonderful experiences and memories during those years, and marriage is not some magical contract you agree to enter that suddenly makes you a better, wiser person. And my point here is not to make someone feel worse about their current relationship status than they already do.
But a nation of single people is not translating into a bunch of folks who have more time to mentor kids or serve their community. It’s a lot of video games and children who wish both parents had stuck around. Out-of-wedlock birth rates have skyrocketed along with the rise of singleness and studies show that the number one predictor of poverty (and time spent in jail) is whether or not the person came from a single parent home.
Marriage does not fix your problems, but it most certainly begins a maturation process that accelerates with the introduction of children into the couple’s lives together. Society needs strong families to flourish. The economy needs consumers who aren’t singularly concerned with “having a good time.” The inner-workings of a free society necessitate concerned citizens who are willing to show up to everything from a PTA meeting to the voting booth on Election Day in order that we might hold those we lend power to in check.
Being married and having a family inspires citizens to care about the world around them (and not solely about saving whales and whatever Jon Stewart said was important that night).
This is why I do not fear overpopulation. Liberals belive in the falsified therories of Malthus that overpopulation is inevitable. Cornicopians belive that despite growing population, we can still provide resources. But there is a third way, predicted by John B. Calhoun, that our populations will enevitably collapse on their owm, without reaching resource limits. This is what is beginning to happen all around the world now. Japan is the leader, but soon it will happen all over. In China they lifted the one child ban, but the birth rate did not rise. It will not reach replacement level again in China.
The longer one stays single, the more difficult it is to find a life’s partner.
That is very, very true.
I married really young. But after my LO passed away...it is almost impossible to find that same level of commitment.
The older a person the less one wants to. Once you are past the age where it can be expected that one can be a parent, there is almost no reason to marry at all.
When I was young, I wanted to be married. After seeing what has happened to many of my married friends, I really don’t see much “up side.”
>>because single people don’t usually make as much as a married couple can<<
I think married couples who both work is a cultural and societal aberration that should never be celebrated.
Such couples sacrifice their children on the altar of selfishness.
IOW: No surprise given such destructive “ideals” as “gay marriage” (which will soon translate to polygamy and polyandry).
Thanks Gen Y and Millenials.
Well, there’s married and there’s reproducing, right gay couples? Not necessarily the same thing. And hetero women aren’t going to marry a man who can’t hold a steady job and in Obama’s America, how many single young men have steady jobs? Plus there are a lot of free cows providing milk out there so there’s less incentive to want to pay for a cow. You see how liberalism has destroyed the family yet?
But don’t worry. I see little black and latin babies all over because their mothers know the government will raise their children. It’s only the white women who still cling to this idea of a male provider in the home. The minorities have Uncle Sap as their daddy.
I’m in my late 50s, seeing a woman of the same age. I was widowed several years ago. She is divorced. We both have adult children. We are an established couple, but we have no plans to get married. I think I am one of those people you are referring to. I don’t see a reason to get married at our ages.
Well, with a 50% divorce rate, or whatever it is, now, what can you expect? We’re being told that marriage doesn’t mean anything, and that it’s wrong to expect people to have standards. Open-marriages, spouse-trading, polygamy etc. Make marriage a meaningless institution.
You touch a bit on the issue of sex.
I was with a group of older men recently, and the subject of marriage and sex came up. One man said he married his girlfriend all those years ago, because it was the only way he would get to experience certain things with her. Young people nowadays just don’t think like that.
With recreational sex being the norm in our culture, not too many young people anymore are brought up with the notion that sex is saved for marriage, and that you should get married to experience that.
What you say only applies to traditional marriage.
The same people who tell us that marriage doesn’t mean anything, that it oppresses women, etc. are the same people who insist we must have homosexual marriage.
Any situation where somebody has chosen to forego the traditional marriage because they are of an age where they really wouldn’t benefit from the institution. Permanent singleness, living together, etc.
“That will influence how much money they spend and what they buy.”
Because we live and die by a CONSUMER Economy. Sad.
They are constantly cycling through dead-end jobs. A stint at a Home Depot followed by a gig at Radio Shack and then maybe a month or two delivering pizzas - until their car breaks down and they have to quit because they can't afford to get it fixed. You get the picture. They are perpetual adolescents - overgrown kids.
Not sure what the answer is. Our culture has by and large emasculated the American male and I'm not sure how we are going to get our masculinity back.
I knew a girl around 21 years ago who was just out of high school. We worked together and she lived next door to me.
She was one of those girls we all have known. Prom Queen, Queen of everything else, 4 years a cheerleader, named “sweetest’ and rightfully so. She was a devoted Christian yet had gotten involved in sex.
I thought the best thing for her would to get married but she wanted a career first. Around the age of 37 she finally did get married and she was still pretty enough to attract a wealthy guy.
I noticed they have a baby and from the pictures I think the baby may just have a bit of Down’s Syndrome. I can’t be sure but she does look a little that way. Of course I am sure she loves the baby but it would have been so much better if she had gotten married at 20 and had her babies then.
Divorced 8 years after 25 years of marriage ... I’d do it again, (even now). Hell, I’d even marry her again. (won’t ever happen, cause now I’m broke... wonder how that happened?)
TT
Well, what did y’all expect, when you pretty much outlawed fatherhood? Dating, even in the 1970s...oooo, that smell!
Five U.S. Banks Each Have More Than 40 Trillion Dollars In Exposure To Derivatives
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