10.22.06
Marriage on the decline
A pretty interesting article on yahoo news about the decline of marriage in modern America.
More than 14 million of them were headed by single women, another five million by single men, while 36.7 million belonged to a category described as “nonfamily households,” a term that experts said referred primarily to gay or heterosexual couples cohabiting out of formal wedlock.
In addition, there were more than 30 million unmarried men and women living alone, who are not categorized as families, the Census Bureau reported.
By comparison, the number of traditional households with married couples at their core stood at slightly more than 55.2 million, or 49.8 percent of the total.
The article does touch on a few interesting points. First, longer lifespans is changing society. Second, women’s greater economic independence means that they dont have to stick around in a unhappy marriage. Third, since its more common for both parents to work, coupled with the decline in birth rates, children are more likely to become isolated. This is further exacerbated by the American dream (single family house hold, x kids, x cars, blah blah) which will further isolate kids from close contact with relatives.
The car(and the plane) is a amazing invention. It allows people to go anywhere they want any time they want. But how really wants to be regularly killing time just driving everywhere? I’ve heard statistics that in some cities people spend 2hrs or 3hrs a day sitting in traffic. 2hrs– no biggy? Think about it. 2hrs out of a 24 hr day. Thats about 10% of your day sitting in a car, driving.