Sunday, March 14, 2010

Millennial Priorities: Parenthood Separated From Marriage


The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has released a rich report on the Millennial generation, today's teens and twenties.

One very interesting finding about family life: most put "being a good parent" as a top priority, but only about a third put "having a successful marriage" as a top priority.

I don't think this really means that young people do not value marriage. I think it means that they think parents should be good parents no matter what - even if their marriage falls apart. On the whole, this high priority on good parenting is a good thing for the future.

I take this priority with a grain of salt, since millennials are much closer to being children than being parents. Only about a fifth of them are married already. We should revisit this question in a decade or so.

1 comment:

Kerri said...

That only 20% listed "helping others in need" is disconcerting to me.