The Millennial Generation, 'Neil Howe And William Strauss' Generations

In this essay, “The Cohabitation Epidemic,” by Neil Clark Warren, is talking about why many people decide to live their lives in cohabitation instead of getting married right away. Older generations would look at cohabiting as being something bad or even immoral. In this century, this epidemic is something common and, notwithstanding, normal. Over the years, the U.S. Census Bureau has kept up with how this lifestyle has evolved. In 1970, they had 1 million people that were “unmarried-partner households,” and that number rose to 3.2 million in 1990. In the year 2000, they had 11 million people living in those situations.

turning out in today’s day and age. He goes on with facts and statistics to back-up himself for

Tradition gives way to the new era. Saying “I do” before saying, “We found our new home,” is a thing of the past. Today, more and more couples are choosing cohabitation over marriage. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, between the year of 2006 and 2010, 48% of women ranging from age 15 to 44 years of age first lived with a man to whom they were not married (Grinberg). When compared to the numbers from 1995, which was 34% percent, the change in trend becomes obvious (Grinberg). There are many reasons why marriage is no longer the next big step for America’s unwedded couples.

She interviewed 120 young adults of both genders between the ages of 18 and 32. The participants are all from the state of New York. There family backgrounds and socioeconomical background is very differs. Gerson finds that today’s young generation is far from wanting a fallback to a traditional marriage nor to they want a commitment free life. The majority of the young she interviews said that their most desirable family option is a long-term intimate egalitarian relationship and great balance between work

Marriage a long-standing fundamental to functional society. Marriage is a perspective of what used to be socially the beginning of a nuclear family. A nuclear family consisting of a father, mother, and children. In the twentieth century it was considered proper in society to be married before having children. However, this is no longer the case in modern United States. What aspects are there that make our generation susceptible to cohabitation instead of marriage?

As stated in our text, various factors can bind married couples together, such as economic interdependencies, legal, social and moral constraints, relationship, and amongst other things. In the recent years some of these factors have diminished their strengths. The modern generation sees marriage in a different perspective altogether. Individuals today feel they are stable independently, they do not need to rely on their spouse for emotional or financial support. Many are career driven and soar to conquer their dreams over settling down with a family. Such untraditional views have increased divorce rates.

People believe that marriage is easy and is the key to love and happiness, but in reality marriage is harder than it looks. Everyone marries for different reasons, for good or for bad. People today don’t understand the meaning of marriage; it is more than just money and appearance. Seeing today’s world of marriage is being influenced by media shows like Jerry Springer, Judge Judy, and Murray makes you realize how society today identifies marriage different. Couples who live unmarried will be happier and have more choices than those that are married in agreement with Catherine Newman’s essay called I Do. Not.: Why I Won’t Marry in the book “Acting Out Culture: Reading and Writing “, by: James S. Miller. Catherine Newman is a writer and an author

In over half a century, marriage has transformed from being a social requirement to simply being an option in today’s society. What has caused this change? Many institutions in our society have changed drastically along with marriage. Although these institutions have not caused marriage to be optional, they do strongly correlate with the decreased value. The economy, education, religion, and government have all altered since the 1950s. When any institution encounters a change, all other institutions are affected. Family is a major institution in society, and I believe that marriage is an important aspect of this institution. Cohabitation, religion, women in the work world and divorce have all effected the way marriage is viewed today.

On the other hand, individualism in men and women has great impact on the traditional American family; in fact, women have put their careers as a priority. They are entering in the workforce having higher incomes, simultaneously, leaving the concept of marriage way behind. Also, men and women are deciding not to get married at all, and just living in civil unions. This is the same case for same sex couples that adopt children, visualizing a traditional family thus causing a controversy in the society. Some people prefer cohabitate because they want their time and space. Another example is that women have decided to have fewer or not children, and ending their fertility at early ages. As a result, fertility rates are being the lowest level in history.

There comes a point in everyone’s life that this question or subject is brought up - “Are you dating anyone?” “When are you guys getting married?” When these questions are asked from family and friends, it pressures people into finding that special one. Even though, people do experience those desires and questions for themselves; does it make it right to feel that need? What is marriage? Is marriage a contract or love? What if marriage is not what people perceive it to be? What if marriage is not the happily ever after often seen in the movies? Laurie Essig and Lynn Owens are two scholars that wrote a piece entitled, What If Marriage Is Bad for Us? that contended the institution purpose of marriage is obsolete and in reality bad for society, and how marriage can lead to changed, unhealthy, and distressed.

Since the 1960’s, American family has changed. According to the New York Times, “the traditional family is mom, dad, pets, and kids” (Angier, 2013). This was your traditional family everyone was expected to aspire. Once they reached adulthood, they had to live by society rules or by the bible to be considered an example for others. During the same era, women need to be married before they decided to have children. Now, women are having children without having a partner by their side. Another is some couples are choosing cohabitation over marriage. They see marriage as a long term commitment. Cohabitation is a better option because it’s for couples who are looking to settle down without marriage. Both men and women would marry much younger before from sixteen years old to eighteen. But now, both men and women are marrying much later in life between thirty and forty years of age. Another controversy is there’s now gay marriage but, before gay marriage within the same sex wasn’t legal. Many people don’t agree with same sex marriage.

In “For better, for worse: Marriage means something different now,” Stephanie Coontz reveals the worldwide changes in people’s attitudes and behaviors towards marriage. According to Coontz, education and the social norms are the reasons why marriage has become nonessential. Being single and going through a divorce are more acceptable now. The motivations of marriage have turned from economic dependence into personal willingness. In fact, Coontz’s words make me wonder the true meaning of marriage. Even though the meaning has changed over times, I believed that I still hope to get married.

In 1970, 40% of couples were married with children. 2013 marked a new low as only 19% of household were married with children. A nuclear family is usually described as a heterosexual marriage with the average of 2.5 children, became synonymous with the American dream philosophy in the mid-1940s. The nuclear family standard is rapidly on the decline in the United States. These declining number have a range of causes. The causes of the decline of the nuclear family are cohabitation, childfree couples, high divorces rates, and the introduction of LGBTQ families. The effects are increased self-fulfillment, serial monogamy, childhood psychological trauma and family diversity. Gay and lesbian marriages

A survey of 14000 adults states in ‘A Guide to Family Issues: The Marriage Advantage’ that marriage was a pertinent factor contributing to happiness and satisfaction with forty percent of the married individuals being happy as opposed to 25 percent of either single or cohabiting individuals. The same study shows that ninety eight percent of never married respondents wished to marry and out of those 88% believed that it should be a lifelong commitment. Even though, divorce rates are rising numerous researches show that young people aspire to have a lasting marriage.

Although marriage has been a central factor and gives meaning to human lives, the change in people’s lifestyles and behaviors through a long period of social development has resulted in alternate choices such as being single or nonmarital living. As a result, cohabitation has become more popular as a trendy life choice for young people. The majority of couples choose cohabitation as a precursor to marriage to gain a better understanding of each other. However, there are exceptions, such as where Thornton, Azinn, and Xie have noted: “In fact, the couple may simply slide or drift from single into the sharing of living quarters with little explicit discussion or decision-making. This sliding into cohabitation without