Over a quarter of millennials have never gotten married or had children, and if demographic trends continue many will never marry or start families, according to a new study. Wendy Wang, director of research at the Institute for Family Studies, observed in a blog published Wednesday that marriage and parenthood have throughout the ages been significant markers of adulthood. But all that has now changed. “At ages 30 to 34, more than a quarter of millennials (26 percent) have not yet started a family
— meaning they have neither been married nor had any children,” Wang said, referencing her organization’s latest analysis of government data. “Another 18 percent of millennials have children but have never been married. Only a narrow majority — 56 percent — have been married before. And most of these ever-married young adults (78 percent) have children.” This delay in “settling down” is a notable shift from prior generations. By the time Baby Boomers were the age of these millennials, only 13 percent had not formed a family. READ MORE
