Julie BaumgardnerMillennials are causing the U.S. divorce rate to plummet, according to a recent report from Bloomberg News. In fact, divorce is down 18 percent since the Great Recession. On the surface this sounds like great news, but peeling back the layers reveals some good news accompanied by some not-so-good news.
The data from the report do indicate that young couples are looking at marriage differently. They are marrying later in life, waiting until after they have completed their education and have found a job. They are also being pickier about whom they marry.
Sociologist Brad Wilcox studies marriage and divorce trends as the director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia. He agrees that there is some news worth celebrating, but there is also a downside.
“Since the 1960s, we have seen a dramatic retreat from marriage with more divorce, single parenthood and unmarried childbearing,” says Wilcox. “But the good news is that most of these trends have slowed in recent years, and some have even reversed. In fact, divorce and unmarried childbearing have reversed course: both are down. This means a clear majority of children born to married couples today will experience a stable family life.”
Based on the data, Wilcox believes marriage is becoming more stable and the adults who are entering marriage are more intentional about commitment. They don’t want to make the same mistake their parents often made in the ’60s and ’70s at the height of the divorce revolution.