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A record-high share of 40-year-olds in the U.S. have never been married

pewresearch.org

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Re: A record-high share of 40-year-olds in the U.S. have never been married

#11

Post by frithsun »

For generations, the elites have been obnoxiously discouraging family formation and fertility on account of malthusian pseudoscience.

Now they're recognizing the error but it's too late for the billions who will live and die alone and alienated from the natural rhythms of family life.

The only solace, perhaps, is people are remarkably good at coping. Most of these victims will claim despite the mountains of data that they didn't fail and they're totally fulfilled, happy, and successful.

Re: A record-high share of 40-year-olds in the U.S. have never been married

#12

Post by InCityDreams »

dougmwne wrote: post #6

The trend of less education means less marriage is interesting. I think that tells me the root cause is that 25% of 40 year olds are not financially attractive mates. I think this speaks to a broader trend of men not being able to meet the traditional expectations of the breadwinner in an increasingly precarious economy.

>25% of 40 year olds are not financially attractive mates.

Is this a peculiarity of the US? Income was never an issue when i got the hots for someone...especially when things turned into long-term commitment. In fact, quite the opposite.

Re: A record-high share of 40-year-olds in the U.S. have never been married

#13

Post by mc32 »

h2odragon wrote: post #2

The finances of marriage don't make sense until, what, $75k/yr or more? If you need any sort of public assistance, marriage is a severe eligibility fence.

Maybe people are just aiming too high. Sometimes you have to know your limitations and know where you fit. Not everyone is a high achiever and not everyone thought education was going to deliver a better sociology economic potential for them. It’s unfortunate that society today misleads youth in thinking they can make their own reality and that there are shortcuts to success for all. Some are lucky but most are not.

You can let the river current take you where it may, or you might plan and prepare do that you may land on a desirable bank. People have to take some control over their lives if they want to have some self determination.

Re: A record-high share of 40-year-olds in the U.S. have never been married

#14

Post by almost_usual »

mc32 wrote: post #10
rasengan wrote: post #4

> While many unmarried 40-year-olds are living with a romantic partner, most are not. In 2022, 22% of never-married adults ages 40 to 44 were cohabiting. It seems that the institution of marriage is the issue and not human relationship?

You think one in five is a healthy ratio? That means four out of five don’t have someone around. That’s got to affect people as they get older and need occasional help with things, all kinds of things.

Elderly care in the US is bound to skyrocket as people have less children and more elderly are alone.

Re: A record-high share of 40-year-olds in the U.S. have never been married

#16

Post by cmrdporcupine »

Mostly just economics, is my wager.

In a classic agrarian economy, having a spouse and making children works out -- more children = more hands = more work done = more food or more product to market.

In a modern "pure" capitalist industrial/service economy, the economic model doesn't pay for the cost of the reproduction of the labour it depends on. So not a surprise when people do the same cost-benefit analysis for themselves and choose (or are forced) to have no children, and to not bother with marriage as a result.

The no-children "choice" often also ends up with no partner -- married or not. I personally knew several women in their late 30s and 40s who ended up leaving partners or leaving the dating scene because the men they were finding were not interested in or capable of being fathers. On an aggregate scale this adds up to a phenomenon.

Some advanced capitalist nations have gotten around this through high immigration rates. Others are attempting to get around it with debt to finance social programs or stimulus etc. In both cases it's really just "shooting the puck down the ice" so to speak. The next generation or the one after has to deal with the problem.

Re: A record-high share of 40-year-olds in the U.S. have never been married

#17

Post by onlyrealcuzzo »

InCityDreams wrote: post #12
dougmwne wrote: post #6

The trend of less education means less marriage is interesting. I think that tells me the root cause is that 25% of 40 year olds are not financially attractive mates. I think this speaks to a broader trend of men not being able to meet the traditional expectations of the breadwinner in an increasingly precarious economy.

>25% of 40 year olds are not financially attractive mates. Is this a peculiarity of the US? Income was never an issue when i got the hots for someone...especially when things turned into long-term commitment. In fact, quite the opposite.

Having the hots and marriage are totally different things for most people, I think.

Re: A record-high share of 40-year-olds in the U.S. have never been married

#18

Post by defrost »

cj wrote: post #7
rasengan wrote: post #4

> While many unmarried 40-year-olds are living with a romantic partner, most are not. In 2022, 22% of never-married adults ages 40 to 44 were cohabiting. It seems that the institution of marriage is the issue and not human relationship?

22% is a subset of the 25%, meaning there’s still roughly 20% of 40-44 that are not cohabitating and not married. Significantly higher than the 6% decades ago. Which seems to indicate human relationships are indeed in decline (the institution of marriage Is likely also in decline, but it’s not the sole reason for the high percentage)

Without a deeper dive it's entirely possible that decades ago more people were living in sham marriages for the sake of appearence and fewer people today feel the need to do so.

Re: A record-high share of 40-year-olds in the U.S. have never been married

#19

Post by 29athrowaway »

The chart is just another "wtf happened in 1971" moment.

https://wtfhappenedin1971.com/

What happened in 1971? The Nixon Shock, which is when the dollar stopped being convertible to gold after it became evident that the US did not have the gold it claimed to have.

Re: A record-high share of 40-year-olds in the U.S. have never been married

#20

Post by kevin_thibedeau »

cj wrote: post #7
rasengan wrote: post #4

> While many unmarried 40-year-olds are living with a romantic partner, most are not. In 2022, 22% of never-married adults ages 40 to 44 were cohabiting. It seems that the institution of marriage is the issue and not human relationship?

22% is a subset of the 25%, meaning there’s still roughly 20% of 40-44 that are not cohabitating and not married. Significantly higher than the 6% decades ago. Which seems to indicate human relationships are indeed in decline (the institution of marriage Is likely also in decline, but it’s not the sole reason for the high percentage)

When you're on the hook for alimony when your ex-GF leaves a toothbrush at your home it makes some think twice.
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