The rate rose during the 1980s, before falling again after the early 1990s, with a recent increase since 2001. Some of the factors that affects the size and structure of the population are the proportion of women who are of childbearing age and how fertile they are. The UK's fertility rate has risen since 2001, but it is still much lower than in the past. From an all-time low of 1.63 children per woman in 2001 to 1.84 by 2006. These changes in fertility shows that more women are remaining childless than in the past and women are postponing having children, older women may be less fertile and have fewer fertile years remaining, so they produce fewer children.
This period is referred to as the "baby boom" era. Many children were conceived, and those children are now our elderly population. After the baby boom era, fertility rates have been steadily declining. The working class are taxed for FICA (federal insurance contribution act), which funds social security. The problem is that there are less working class then there is the elderly population.
From my own research I discovered that the average amount spent on a wedding is 21,000 which also happens to be the average pay in the UK –meaning that the amount some people earn in a year can be spent on their wedding. With the country currently in a recession and many people on ‘pay freezes’ (meaning that their salaries won’t increase for a period of time due to the government’s or their companies financial difficulties) lots of people simply cannot afford to get married. The amount of divorces has also increased in the UK. From my research I found that in 1970 there were 415,487 marriages in the UK and 58,239
The LV insurance firm stated that child costs £186k just before their 21st birthday. However, as incomes have risen greatly compared to previous generations this cannot be a main factor for the decline in the birth rate. As a result of these financial pressures, parents now feel less able or willing than in the past to have a large family. There were also major changes in the position of women during the 20th century. Due to increased educational opportunities as girls now do better at school than boys, and laws outlawing unequal pay and sex discrimination has meant ¾ of women are now in paid employment.
During the 1970’s, divorce rates had double (and the number of divorces tripled from 400,000 in 1962 to 1.2 million in 1981) (Ministries). This was due to the baby booming generation. While older couples still lived by the tradition they were brought up in. Age plays a huge facto in divorce. According to Divorce Rate, “between the ages of 20 to 29 the divorce rate is greater than couples 30 and older.” Some statistics say at least 66 percent of younger couples end up divorced because of childless issues.
Families with two working parents are more common today than in years past. The percentage of stay at home parents has been dwindling since WWII when women started entering the job force at a rapid rate. While there are plenty of working families, many families still have a stay at home parent, especially with very young children in the home. The differences between two career and single career families can be noticed in their economic situation, in their involvement with their children and in their recreational activities The financial situations of families with two working parents and families with one working parent vary. Two career households typically bring in more revenue.
The decline of workers contributing to Social Security means there will be less benefits that will be replaced. Currently the Baby boomers have the highest labor force participation of any generations in American history. (Crain, 2006) The generations following the Baby Boomer generation will not have the numbers to replace the Baby Boomers place in the workforce. According to Crain (2006) nearly 90% of the Baby Boomer generation works, which is over half of the entire workforce in the nation. About 80% of female Baby Boomers worked which was also a contribution to the two income family.
Reconstructed families are couple that beforehand may have been in a previous marriage or relationship. Children are brought into the family although having a different parent. These are on the rise according to statistics. This could be because of: the economy – the price of getting married again may be a too costly price – especially in today’s society where prices are rocketing, a longer life expectancy – people not wanting to be alone, also, some people may believe marriage should only be done once from a moral front. (Self, A Zealey, L 2007) National statistics shows that remarriages have risen from approximately 80,000 to
The New York Times claimed that, “When immigrants do take jobs, they’re hard workers” (Preston and Connelly a1). Therefore, it greatly contributes to America’s retirement system. The presence of immigrants also contributes to America’s long term population growth, necessary to stabilize the overall retirement fund. The Springer Science and Business Media’s journal states that some other countries in the world suffer from the labor shortages and a demographic crunch, in which a very small number of workers will be expected to pay the retirement and health care for elderly people (Gold 409). The ratio of retired people to workers is expected to dramatically increase in the coming decades, which would result in significant changes in the Security System of America’s retirement money.
In the article “The Truth about Marriage” it talks about how the age people get married has changed a great amount. In the past, most Americans would be more likely to more to marry in their teens and early twenties. In 1970 and on, the ages of people getting marries had risen. Today, the most common ages is close to 29 for men and close to 27 for women. Another common aspect of American life now, is people rejecting marriage.