Trends in the World Today

There are many trends today that envelop families and family life all over the world. These trends are not all good and I do not wish to promote them in any way, but rather just inform you of what has become commonplace in the world today. I do this so that you might be able to do something about it in your own life. These trends can and are interconnected in quite a few ways, and, because of this, there is a domino effect that is created.
The first trend that I would like to discuss is delayed marriage. By this I mean that the age of when people get married has been going up. People are getting married at later ages, and this is because, a lot of the times, they want to finish their educations, get a career, and by the time they do that they are older. In previous years the average age to get married was the early 20s, but now the average age has become the late 20s.
The second trend regards living alone. There are more people that are living alone in today’s world than there were in years past. This has to with people getting married later or sometimes not at all. The numbers are going up, in many cases, because there are many that are choosing individualism over family. They are putting themselves first, as it is very common in societies, but families still need to hold priority in our lives.
The third trend is cohabitation. The number of people who cohabitate has increased. There are many who cohabitate before marriage in order to strengthen their relationship or see if they are even compatible with each other. There are also those that cohabit, never with the intention to marry. I have learned that cohabitation does not increase the chances of the marriage staying together longer, but rather it causes marriages to break up and fall apart easier.
The fourth trend is about premarital sex. The number of people who are having premarital sex is going up. This number is going up, in part, because of cohabitation—as well as other things. Before, when people were getting married earlier—or getting married at all—it was not as common. This, in my opinion, is not something that should be so common in our societies. It should not be something that is taught to be okay, but for many years it has been and because of it sex is everywhere in today’s societies.
The fifth trend concerns the number of children born outside of marriage. Over the years, that number has gone up. To some extent this is because of how common and everyday sex has become for many societies. It is happening in about 40 percent of Americans and about 70 percent of African Americans.
The sixth trend is about the number of employed moms. This number is going up—more women are going back to work. This can be a good and a bad thing, depending on the circumstances. It is better for children, while they are home all day (not in school) for one of their parents to be there as well. This has a way of creating a better environment for the children who are growing up and learning.
The seventh trend concerns the size of households, which is going down. There are less people living in the same house as there were in previous years. This is partly because of fertility rate, which is the average number of children per women. Women are having less children, it is more common today than ever to have just one or two children. There are also not as many (extended) family members living with relatives as there were before in some places.
The eighth trend regards the birth rates, which are going down. Birth rates are births per thousand people born in a population during a year. Because people are getting married later, they are having children at later ages and not as many of them. The birth rate is just below 2.13, meaning that most people are only having around two children.
There are many impacts that these trends have on people all over the world and many are unknown to people throughout the world—or just not fully aware. These trends have become common in our societies, but they are affecting our home and family life. There are not as many children being born, there are people who are putting marriage on hold in order to do what they want first, there are more people getting jobs instead of staying home with young kids, and many more things. We are being raised in a world where individualism is key, but we need to focus more on families.

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