April 30, 2014:
A new Pew Research Study confirms that the Leave it to Beaver style family is history- since just 16% of today’s households look like that. The Modern Family TV show accurately depicts a modern family in America today. As can be seen in the image of Modern Family families come in a variety of different styles.
Today, according to the Pew study, the median age at first marriage is 29 for men and 27 for women. In 2013, more than one-in-four (26%) of people ages 18 to 32 were married. But in 1960, well over half (65%) of Americans were.
Mothers are also waiting longer to have children. In 1960, women ages 15 to 24 accounted for 40% of mothers with infants. By 2011, that number had dropped to 22%. Today, an American woman, on average, is expected to have 1.9 children, compared with a total fertility rate of 3.7 children in 1960. Some 3 million lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender adults (37%) have had a child at some point in their lives; many of those were married at that time to the members of the opposite sex.
Families today are more blended and differently constructed than years past. Nearly half (44%) of young people ages 18 to 29 have a step sibling. About half as many (23%) of those ages 50 to 64—and just 16% of those 65 or older—have a step sibling.
More babies are born to unmarried mothers than ever before. Unmarried women accounted for a whopping 41% of births in 2011, up from just 5% in 1960. Confirming prior studies that education counts, only 9% of new mothers with a bachelor’s degree were unmarried when they gave birth. In other words, if you are unmarried and pregnant there is a 90% chance you did not graduate from college.
Intermarriage among people of different races is increasingly common. In 1980, just 7% of all marriages in the U.S. were between spouses of a different race or ethnicity. Now, 15% of all new marriages in the U.S. are inter-racial with a huge 28% of Asians marrying outside their race.
April 30, 2014.
Interesting article.