An essay appeared recently in The Wall Street Journal under the headline “What Happens When a Whole Generation Never Grows Up?”
Behavior that has always been understood to define what it means to be an adult is disappearing among America’s younger generations.
Institutions always seen as the sinews that define and hold together a society–homeownership, marriage, children–no longer can be taken for granted.
Per the essay, median age for first-time homebuyers is at an all-time high: 38. In 1981, it was 29.
Around half of Americans between 30 and 40 are married, compared to two-thirds in 1990.
Fertility rates–the average number of children that each woman of childbearing age can be expected to bring forth–is at a level that guarantees an aging, shrinking society.
A fertility rate of an average of 2.1 children per woman will keep a population at…
