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Millennials Are Causing the U.S. Divorce Rate to Plummet

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Re: Millennials Are Causing the U.S. Divorce Rate to Plummet

#151

Post by EADGBE »

curryst wrote: post #96
combatentropy wrote: post #87

"Many poorer and less educated Americans are opting not to get married at all. . . . Marriage is becoming a more durable, but far more exclusive, institution." How is it exclusive if it is by choice?

It's not entirely by choice. Getting married can have a significant impact on the benefits you are eligible to receive. Anecdotally, I knew a woman who lived with her boyfriend and children in section 8 housing through benefits she received for being low income. The boyfriend worked, but his income was not counted as household income because they weren't married. They eventually got married, and between his income an…

Across the whole spectrum of income, you'll find people using loopholes.

Re: Millennials Are Causing the U.S. Divorce Rate to Plummet

#152

Post by sulam »

module0000 wrote: post #147
52-6F-62 wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think about this from time-to-time. My partner and I know we couldn't afford children now, though she's constantly ..."noticing the clock ticking". I'd like children some day. But what makes me snicker is it sounds exactly like the beginning of Idiocracy.

Be careful - there is no undo button. A lot of us on the other side encouraging you to have kids can be explained by an old adage..."misery loves company". YMMV.

Speaking as someone with two kids, they're a LOT of work. They have measurably decreased my lifespan (if nothing else, they do that simply from the reduction in sleep quality). I happily tell people not to have kids.

Of course, the ones that should have kids ignore me completely. :)

Re: Millennials Are Causing the U.S. Divorce Rate to Plummet

#154

Post by sulam »

nimbius wrote: post #38

speaking as a millennial there is a big reason Marriage is overtaking divorce. Health insurance. Most of us dont have jobs that afford us competent healthcare. Seriously, thank the gig economy. Affordable Care Act providers either do not exist in some states or are overpriced/worthless for what they do cover. There are still roughly 25 states that have not expanded medicare either. Getting married is a quick and simp…

I would only believe this if people were also not getting divorced because they didn't want to lose access to health care. If you have any statistics on this, that'd be interesting.

Otherwise, you're simply saying there's a force exerting pressure to get married. Yet the data shows that this force is far less effective than whatever forces existed 50 years ago. People are not getting married _more_ than baby boomers, they're getting married _less_. And then they're divorcing at lower rates after that.

Re: Millennials Are Causing the U.S. Divorce Rate to Plummet

#155

Post by gumby »

sulam wrote: post #150

They really buried the lede. There are two things happening here that can arguably be traced to one cause: Educated millennials apparently see marriage as something you do _after_ you've finished establishing yourself. It is a goal, not a given. Uneducated millennials apparently have the _same_ point of view, but they aren't established and therefore they aren't getting married. Given that marriage often means you en…

> Given that marriage often means you end up with the lower of the two credit scores

Does anyone actually think this way?? Honestly I can’t imagibe ever thinking financially when I proposed.

Re: Millennials Are Causing the U.S. Divorce Rate to Plummet

#156

Post by dnadler »

encoderer wrote: post #122
odyssey7 wrote: post #75

Millennials are forced to be more careful, because they're climbing a difficult and important ladder into financial security. Most people I know who aren't looking to marry are just very aware that this is not the right time for them, neither finically nor in relation to achieving their professional goals.

I’m a millennial so I’m sympathetic but this is something I’ve heard a lot about anecdotally without a lot of data behind it. Here are two more anecdotes: My dad graduated in 1976 in the middle of stagflation and had a 12% apr on his first house in the mid 80s. His dad graduated into the recession that stretched between ww2 and Korea. I think we’re too quick to look at generations that have accumulated wealth and acc…

> My dad graduated in 1976 in the middle of stagflation and had a 12% apr on his first house in the mid 80s.

But inflation over the next few years meant that in real terms (the most important terms), that rate was between 6% and -2%(!). Inflation hit 14% in 1980. The ability to refinance also means that he wouldn't have to keep that high interest rate once inflation settled down. So he probably did quite well with that mortgage.

edit: I misread the dates in that sentence, so your Dad probably didn't benefit from the inflation in the early 80s. That said, it is important to consider high mortgage rates in real terms.

Re: Millennials Are Causing the U.S. Divorce Rate to Plummet

#157

Post by zdragnar »

gumby wrote: post #155
sulam wrote: post #150

They really buried the lede. There are two things happening here that can arguably be traced to one cause: Educated millennials apparently see marriage as something you do _after_ you've finished establishing yourself. It is a goal, not a given. Uneducated millennials apparently have the _same_ point of view, but they aren't established and therefore they aren't getting married. Given that marriage often means you en…

> Given that marriage often means you end up with the lower of the two credit scores Does anyone actually think this way?? Honestly I can’t imagibe ever thinking financially when I proposed.

Yes, they do. proposal =/= legally married; I know several people who held off a little while... either until they were out of school, or made a major purchase (such as a house, that sort of thing).

Re: Millennials Are Causing the U.S. Divorce Rate to Plummet

#158

Post by magic_beans »

gumby wrote: post #155
sulam wrote: post #150

They really buried the lede. There are two things happening here that can arguably be traced to one cause: Educated millennials apparently see marriage as something you do _after_ you've finished establishing yourself. It is a goal, not a given. Uneducated millennials apparently have the _same_ point of view, but they aren't established and therefore they aren't getting married. Given that marriage often means you en…

> Given that marriage often means you end up with the lower of the two credit scores Does anyone actually think this way?? Honestly I can’t imagibe ever thinking financially when I proposed.

Of course people think this way. It's foolish not to, especially when couples can commit to each other in so many ways other than legal marriage. I'm shocked there's someone on hacker news who doesn't.

Re: Millennials Are Causing the U.S. Divorce Rate to Plummet

#159

Post by sulam »

gumby wrote: post #155
sulam wrote: post #150

They really buried the lede. There are two things happening here that can arguably be traced to one cause: Educated millennials apparently see marriage as something you do _after_ you've finished establishing yourself. It is a goal, not a given. Uneducated millennials apparently have the _same_ point of view, but they aren't established and therefore they aren't getting married. Given that marriage often means you en…

> Given that marriage often means you end up with the lower of the two credit scores Does anyone actually think this way?? Honestly I can’t imagibe ever thinking financially when I proposed.

I was raised in a very poor environment, and I still have connections to and experiences from that sort of life. Credit affects a ton of your life in ways that people who aren't poor can't appreciate. If you want cable, they are going to run a credit check on you and if the results aren't great, you need to pony up a large deposit. If you want to open a bank account, your options are greatly diminished if you have bad credit. You are automatically disadvantaged if you're trying to rent a desirable apartment. It's probably obvious, but you also don't have credit cards without pre-paying, and that complicates life in a number of ways (and most people with bad credit also don't have the resources to pre-pay a credit card).

Not so surprisingly, this all factors into whether or not to get married to someone!

Re: Millennials Are Causing the U.S. Divorce Rate to Plummet

#160

Post by mortenjorck »

Broken_Hippo wrote: post #119
curryst wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not entirely by choice. Getting married can have a significant impact on the benefits you are eligible to receive. Anecdotally, I knew a woman who lived with her boyfriend and children in section 8 housing through benefits she received for being low income. The boyfriend worked, but his income was not counted as household income because they weren't married. They eventually got married, and between his income an…

I think this is quite common. Public benefits are a strange thing and have really odd loopholes at times. For example: I had a friend that lived with her boyfriend and they had a child. The state wanted to take child support from his check to give to her for the child even though they lived at the same address . I worked with a woman that kept below a certain amount of hours per week while working. This was simply be…

Yes, this is a very real problem. I’m close to someone who has to actively turn down freelance work past a certain point because they will no longer qualify for Medicaid and still be far short of affording an ACA plan. Obviously the “solution” is to get a lot more work all at once to get out of that financial gap, but it’s hard to do.
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