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Bloomberg News reports, on 3 December, that the number of U.S. households with nuclear families—married couples with children under 18—has fallen to 23.1 million, the lowest number since 1959, and 40 percent lower than the number in 1970.
By contrast, the total number of U.S. households—presumably not necessarily headed by couples, married or not, and not necessarily including children, is around 130 million.
U.S. birthrates have also been declining, in conjunction with a trend toward people marrying later in life; in the ’50s and ’60s, the typical age for women to marry was 20.4 years, and for men it was 22.8 years. Nowadays women tend to marry at 28, and COVID-19 is blamed for delaying marriages over the past two years and raising the typical age for women to marry to 28.6 years.
TRENDPOST: Trends Journal noted the role of COVID-19 in the falling marriage rate, and its implications; see “LOVE & MARRIAGE PLUNGE” (5 May 2020) and “GOING DOWN AND OUT” (28 Jul 2020). And there’s another factor that may be behind the declining birth rates; see “SPERM DOWN FOR THE COUNT, PENISES FALLING SHORT” (30 Mar 2021).
TREND FORECAST: Marriage rates and birthrates will continue to fall as economic conditions continue to decline, the middle class shrinks and it becomes less affordable to live considering the lack of middle class job opportunities.