This week in class we discussed trends and what they mean and how they are affecting the world today. First of all the definition of a trend is: the general course or prevailing tendency; drift: (Dictionary.com) Here are some trends that we discussed that some of you might be surprised about:
Upward Trends
Divorce
Pre-marital sex
Co-habitation
Living Alone
Birth to unmarried woman
Working mothers
Downward Trends
Marriage
Children
Social activities
Social time with extended family
Now, some of you may be thinking what I thought when I saw these, "Oh, some of those aren't really important". But in fact you are wrong. As we discussed each topic I came to realize how important the role was for each of these subjects. Now I'm not going to talk about each topic, but I will touch on a few that I don't think people realize.
First let's talk about Children and the downward trend with that. This is one of the more surprising statistics. "An increasing number of women are delaying having their first child until their mid or even late 30's. This means that they will likely have fewer children" (Lauer) Well, what's the problem you say? The capacity for getting pregnant tends to decrease with age. Some women can't have children and others choose not to. Children are not viewed as a necessity for fulfilling life anymore. Because of this the birth rate declined considerably from the 1950's until it leveled off after 1995. In 2008, the rate was 13.9 births per 1,000 women aged 15-44. The rate is now lower than what is necessary for the natural replacement of the population. In other words, if we keep lowering the trend of children it is possible that humans could go extinct or just be very very very few in numbers.
Co-Habitation Trend: This is one way that some people fulfill their intimacy needs without getting married. Co-habitation means that you are living with someone in an intimate, sexual relationship without being legally married. In 2008, more than 6.1 million unmarried couples, including same-sex couples were living together. This represents a significant increase over the 430,000 reported in 1960. A substantial number of these couples have children under the age of 18 living with them. Many people believe in cohabitation as a way to test their compatibility for marriage. Many think that this will beat the odds in divorce, but in actuality 60% of cohabitating adults who end getting married WILL end in divorce.
Births to unmarried woman trend: Among woman born in 1925 and 1929, almost 1 in 10 had at least one nonmarital birth by age 30. Among woman born between 1965 and 1969, more than 1 of 4 had at least one nonmarital birth by age 30.
Now, I could go on and on about these trends but you should find out things for yourself. Make sure that you are using viable sources and not just the first thing that pops up on the Google search bar. Good luck and happy researching!
Here's another source for ya! http://byutv.org/watch/59b6b917-984a-478f-93b1-521a647779c4/new-economic-reality-demographic-winter-part-1
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