Married couples are now a minority in America, according to a recent article in the New York Times.
Reflecting on this, columnist Cal Thomas puts at least some of the blame where it belongs — on those of us who are the Baby Boomers:
My generation has been obsessed with making money and acquiring things in place of investing necessary time on marriage and children. The message the kids get is that if marriage is mostly about accumulating wealth and acquiring stuff, they can do that without getting married.
Family trees are beginning to resemble kudzu….
The Entrepreneurial Generation (those 25 and under) places the blame in the same place (see Michelle’s comment on this post as an example of how they feel). They want to try to work hard on both their careers and their families. For the sake of both our culture and of this great country, let’s hope they get it right…
We’ve talked about this issue in class multiple times, and judging by our small class I think our generation will make changes for the better. Many young adults in the Entrepreneurial Generation have learned what they (we) don’t want and what we do want out of life through our parents generation. It is going to be very interesting to see how our culture has changed in the next 20-30 years.
I think marriage will change in the future (as it always does). I believe that people from my generation are beginning to see marriage as more of a partnership than as a cultural “requirement”.
Entrepreneurs and people from my generation are starting to create their own values and beliefs compared to the past where they were handed down. Therefore, people of this generation place more importance on values and beliefs in their lives and look for people to compliment that part of their lives.
So, I think in the future that marriages will increase in numbers because people will see as a new stage in their lives/relationships that will lead to further personal growth and development. Also, divorce will decrease because, hopefully, people will become more self-aware and be able to make better decisions about whom they wish to spend their lives with.