30 Somethings Shun Mom’s Cherry Pie

Arrested Development was a popular tv comedy but various experts are beginning to wonder if the titling might apply to an entire generation of 30-Somethings who are bypassing traditional adult dreams & “never grow up.”

A recent WSJ article summed up the trend of young folk looking less like grownups this way: “Amid steep declines in homeownership, marriage & birth rates, economists have long been warning that young people are struggling to meet the milestones of adulthood. Although some 30-somethings are consciously choosing a less traditional path, many say these goals are simply out of reach … Now, as a mix of social & economic factors holds back an entire generation, what researchers once called a lag is starting to look more like a permanent state of arrested development.” Said Richard Reeves, president of the American Institute for Boys & Men, “the longer people take to launch into a more conventional adulthood, the less likely they are to do it at all.” According to the Institute for Family Studies, a third of today’s young adults will never marry compared to less than a fifth of those born in previous decades. Now, the Pew Research Center tells us, the “share of childless adults under 50 who say they are unlikely to ever have kids, rose 10 percent between 2018 & 2023 or from 37% to 47%.

Ironically, the WSJ notes, the younger age group is in many ways in a “better place financially on average than were their parents,” so “affordability” doesn’t always cut it as an excuse. Perhaps it comes down for many to a new cynicism in one’s ability to achieve let alone enjoy the long-standing “American Dream,” especially in a time of hyper-instability in the world. Or, maybe some realize, like their pampering parents never really did, that life is NOT a bowl of cherries, so they think it best not to get indigestion too.

Davd Soul