Thursday, July 14, 2005

Generation EX ponders marriage

Excellent article by Alexandra DeLuca in the July 9, 2005 North County (CA) Times. It's all on target but the title.

Generation Me Ponders Marriage

It seems ironic that our generation is dubbed the "Me Generation" when it was the "self actualizing" choices of our boomer parents that led us down the apathetic, survivalist road. Ah well, we don't care anyway!

Key quote:
By far, divorce is the reason cited by young people for their wariness ofwedlock.

According to the National Marriage Project, 60 percent of young adults intheir late 20s agree that one of their biggest concerns about gettingmarried is that it will end in divorce. Additionally, 52 percent of youngadults say that they see so few good or happy marriages around them that they question marriage as a way of life.

"I have seen so many failed marriages that being with someone who couldpotentially make my life miserable is not something that I'm aspiring to,"said Amy Gomez-Gracesqui, 26, of Albany, N.Y.

Encouraging news:
Data from the National Marriage Institute seem to reflect this attitude: 78 percent of young adults agree a couple should not get married unless they are prepared to stay together for life.

Furthermore, 86 percent of young adults agree that one reason for divorce is too much focus on expectations for happiness and not enough on the hard work needed for a successful union.

***

Perhaps we're not so cynical after all.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I agree with you about the title of this article. I do know some people in our generation, however, who don't believe in marriage. Very interesting.