As normal as it can be.
One of the classes I'm taking this semester is a Marriage&Family course. One of the major things the prof is sure to mention every week is people are choosing to remain single longer, waiting to get married for a longer period of time.
In October's Ladies' Home Journal, an article "The New Unmarried Woman" provides a unique perspective. One woman has chosen to focus on her career (federal international agency exec)...as romantic relationships weren't really working out for her. A second woman featured in the aritcle is divorced (married in her early 20's, but the relationship was bad (her husband was domineering and unsupportive) but she eventually became pregnant after a relationship she had had at one point ended. Now she's a single, working mom (physician's assistant) and considers her life to be perfect. The final woman featured has been living with her boyfriend for 15 years (cohabitation) and asserts that she and her boyfriend are together because they want to be.
Stats: Today nearly half of all U.S. women are living without a spouse, and the # of unmarried 35-44 y olds has increased nearly 20% since 1960 (David Popenoe, PHD, Rutgers, codirector of the National Marriage Project).
Between the yrs of 1999 and 2006 the %age of unmarried couples living together jumped about 48% (Dr. Popenoe).
A 2003 survey by AARP found that of woman aged 40-69, 63% were dating, either casually or exclusively.
Psych. prof Bella DePaulo at USCB claims today's average American spends the majority of his or her adult life unmarried.
Today 39% of children born in the U.S. are born outside of marriage (Dr. Popenoe).
Finally, Research shows that around 2/3 of all divorces are initiated by woman (Paula England, PHD, Stanford).
What does this say for relationships? for marriage? for the individual? It seems like some people are focusing more on themselves...but is it only because they made that choice or is it also because they weren't getting anywhere with romantic relationships? Or something else?
The divorce rate is at nearly 50%. Cohabitation is on the rise. Is common law marriage or the like going to be the new norm in the near future?
What does all this say for the person that is single, but not by choice but because the one hasn't come along yet? Does this person have to wait and maybe eventually accept the fact that he/she will never get married?
All this class, and articles like this one, makes me do is come up with more questions. And it doesn't seem like they are any real answers.
