Why is Gen Z abandoning marriage and children?
by Jonathon Van Maren, The Bridgehead:
Over at Unherd, Freya India has an interesting column titled “Why doesn’t Gen Z want children?” Her conclusion? The younger generation is “being infantilised well into adulthood.” A recent survey indicates that a stunning 55% of Gen Z and Millennials plan to have children, with a quarter of those between 18 and 34 ruling out parenthood entirely. The most common reason cited for this is “wanting time for themselves.” We are now living, India notes, in an “era of extended adolescence,” brought about in part by the rising costs of both living and higher education, which brings a consequent delay in “adult activities like going on a date, working for pay, learning to drive, or having sex.”
There are other reasons, too. As India observes:
Modern culture also continually facilitates and encourages this extended adolescence. In our materialistic and individual-centred age, the pursuit of personal desires and self-discovery is often valued above all else, with traditional bonds seen as constraints.
Research by Professor Jean Twenge and her colleagues has examined the values of high school seniors from 1976 to 2006. They discovered that millennials are increasingly driven by extrinsic concerns such as money, fame and image, while moving away from intrinsic concerns like community and affiliation. These increasingly individualistic values likely contribute to younger generations’ adoption of a “slower life strategy”. Twenge observes that contemporary early adulthood now involves taking more time for self-exploration in one’s twenties, a pursuit not common in traditional collectivist societies.
Corporations, educational institutions and popular culture reinforce this cultural shift, capitalising on our prolonged adolescence. Take, for instance, the rise of therapy culture and a rapidly expanding trillion-dollar wellness market, which constantly encourage us to spend more money on ourselves, prioritise “me time” and cater to our “inner child”. Our infantilisation is indulged and commodified across various industries, from universities providing students with colouring books, bubbles and Play-Doh to the booming market for childlike activities and products such as “kidult” toys and adult Happy Meals.
India notes that delaying adulthood comes with real costs. Women are discovering that when they wait too long to have children, they may lose the opportunity entirely (like Jennifer Aniston, for example). We have more “me” time than at any point in human history, but it has come with “record levels of mental health problems, and a deepening sense of nihilism and disillusionment.” Studies indicate that sacrificing for others brings fulfillment, and India asks the question: As people stumble through their teens, twenties, and thirties, with many of the rites of passage and signature experiences of previous generations lacking, will the lost boys and girls experience deep regret in middle age?
The answer, in my view, is clearly yes—and there’s a few other reasons that the younger generations are living in a period of extended adolescence, as well.
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