{"id":59,"date":"2025-05-06T14:36:55","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T18:36:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/?p=59"},"modified":"2025-05-22T08:10:26","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T12:10:26","slug":"financial-independence-tops-parental-hopes-in-u-s-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2025\/05\/06\/financial-independence-tops-parental-hopes-in-u-s-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/","title":{"rendered":"Financial Independence Tops Parental Hopes in U.S. \u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Originally written on 2\/21\/2023<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">According to a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/social-trends\/2023\/01\/24\/parenting-in-america-today\/\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">recent Pew Research report<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, parents in the USA are more concerned about their children being financially independent than they are about their children getting married and having children. 88% of parents say it is extremely or very important that their children be financially independent. 88% say it is extremely or very important their children have jobs or careers they enjoy as adults. Only 20% of parents say it is extremely or very important their children get married or have children as adults. Only 2% of parents say that being financially independent or having an enjoyable job or career is not too or not at all important for their children. While 46% of parents say that getting married or having children is not too or not at all important for their children.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:480}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">There are differences between groups. 36% of Asian, 26 % of Black, 26% of Hispanic, and 17% of White parents say it is extremely or very important their children get married. 70% of Asian, 57% of Hispanic, 51% of Black, and 29% of White parents say it is<\/span> <span data-contrast=\"none\">extremely or very important their children go to college.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335557856&quot;:16777215,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:480}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">In many countries, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ourworldindata.org\/marriages-and-divorces\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">marriage rates are declining because people are marrying later, and marriage and parenthood have decoupled<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">. In the United States, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.census.gov\/data\/tables\/time-series\/demo\/families\/marital.html\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">in 1980, the median marriage age for men was 24.7 and 22.0 for women. In 2022, the median marriage age for men was 30.1 and 28.2 for women<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">. In the US, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ifstudies.org\/blog\/cohabitation-is-pervasive\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">nearly 70% of couples live together before marriage<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:480}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ifstudies.org\/reports\/the-global-family\/2021\/executive-summary\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Institute for Family Studies<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> argues that focusing on having a career and being financially independent causes people to delay marriage, have fewer children, and cohabitate. Also, focusing on being financially independent may <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2017\/04\/over-nearly-80-years-harvard-study-has-been-showing-how-to-live-a-healthy-and-happy-life\/\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">reduce the quality of social relations, one of the primary sources of happiness and health in a person\u2019s life<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">. Some <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ifstudies.org\/blog\/does-getting-married-really-make-you-happier\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">studies show that marriage can increase happiness<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">. However, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bigthink.com\/the-present\/should-you-have-kids\/\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">being a parent is difficult and can reduce happiness<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/social-trends\/2023\/01\/24\/gender-and-parenting\/\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">especially if parents are worried about the well-being and safety of their children<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:480}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">In the late 1980s, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aei.org\/op-eds\/the-second-demographic-transition-is-here\/\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">two Dutch researchers predicted a second economic transition<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> in many countries where people would delay marriage, have fewer children, and cohabitate more. 19<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">th<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">-century economist Thomas Malthus predicted species are more fertile when their command over resources increases. However, Malthus was wrong about humans. Humans become less fertile as incomes and opportunities grow. Our future population will likely be smaller and older, affecting labor supply and social programs.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:480}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Originally written on 2\/21\/2023 According to a recent Pew Research report, parents in the USA are more concerned about their children being financially independent than they are about their children getting married and having children. 88% of parents say it is extremely or very important that their children be financially independent. 88% say it is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[146],"tags":[329,627,632,297,83,628,630,629,626,625,631,633],"class_list":["post-59","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","tag-career","tag-children","tag-cohabitation","tag-college","tag-fertility","tag-financial-independence","tag-institute-for-family-studies","tag-marriage","tag-parents","tag-pew-research","tag-social-relations","tag-thomas-malthus"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - 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