We are creatures of habit, we crave companionship and care whether we like it or not. Can you imagine your whole life surrounded by strangers? We need intimacy. I'm not talking sex, I am referring to love, care, affection, and attachment. This feelings can be towards friends, relatives, lovers...
This loneliness is cured by surrounding ourselves with those we share intimacy. This is most often our family. It saddens me that I see the importance of family decreasing around me. What are some current trends regarding marriage, having children, and families?
According to Ben Steverman "Why You're Being Invited to Fewer Weddings", "Fewer Americans are getting married, and the ones who still are have scaled back their weddings." Does this mean that weddings are becoming less important? It is becoming more common to remain in a relationship without marrying and people are having less children, if any. This results in the decreasing amount of the "typical family".
In case you couldn't tell yet, family is super important to me. I grew up in a traditional Christian home, mother and father, brother and sisters. I'm not saying this is how all good families are, but this is my family and I love them despite our problems. One of our struggles is taking a good family photo.
This is one of our more recent pictures, it was taken three years ago and is missing one new niece and two new husbands. My parents married young and began having children soon after. They have both graduated from college and worked full or part time since. I am the youngest with one brother and two sisters. I believe that my family has been a good example to me, so get used to me referring to them quite frequently.
A reason that many people are having less kids, especially compared to the time of the baby boom, is because of overpopulation. Just driving to the store I tend to get quite frustrated in traffic and wonder what somewhere less crowded would be like. Many families worry about providing their family. Not only financially, but other resources as well.
To reach the replacement fertility rate each woman would need to have 2.13 children. One to replace the woman and one to replace the man and .13 because so sadly not all children reach the age to reproduce. Yes, I know this sounds thoughtless, but there is science behind what I'm saying, it's not just my opinion.
We may be worried about overpopulation and the toll it takes on our Earth and the others living here. As we can see from above, the global fertility rate is declining. Meaning, women are having less children. If the number goes below the 2.1 mentioned earlier, the population is not being replaced and so it begins declining. If this goes on too long, simple math shows us that a gradual decline, gradually leads to zero. Not to be dramatic.
The negative repercussions of this include more elderly with less people to care for them. The working class decreases, and each person needs to work harder. If they don't, the economy follows suit.
This all goes back to the family. I really want to emphasize that all families are different, that does not make one or the other a bad family! I will never tell you my family is better than yours, no matter how much I love them! I also acknowledge that some families are not ideal, many have grown up in homes that have left them with scarring experiences. It is so saddening, and I don't know what I can do about it except help prevent it from happening by providing a loving home for my future children and any who visit us.
What can you do to protect your family? What will you do?
Steverman, B. (n.d.). Why
You’re Being Invited to Fewer Weddings. Retrieved January 07, 2021, from
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-28/why-you-re-being-invited-to-fewer-weddings?cmpId=flipboard
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