Editing Millennials (section)

=== Family life and offspring ===
According to the Brookings Institution, the number of American mothers who never married ballooned between 1968, when they were extremely rare, and 2008, when they became much more common, especially among the less educated. In particular, in 2008, the number of mothers who never married with at least 16 years of education was 3.3%, compared to 20.1% of those who never graduated from high school. Unintended pregnancies were also higher among the less educated.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Sawhill|first1=Isabel V.|last2=Venator|first2=Joanna|date=21 January 2014|title=Three Policies to Close the Class Divide in Family Formation|url=https://www.brookings.edu/blog/social-mobility-memos/2014/01/21/three-policies-to-close-the-class-divide-in-family-formation/|access-date=20 December 2020|website=Brookings Institution}}</ref>

Research by the [[Urban Institute]] conducted in 2014, projected that if current trends continue, millennials will have a lower marriage rate compared to previous generations, predicting that by age 40, 31% of millennial women will remain single, approximately twice the share of their single Gen X counterparts. The data showed similar trends for males.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://money.cnn.com/2014/07/20/news/economy/millennials-marriage/|title=When it comes to marriage, Millennials are saying 'I don't.'|last1=Luhby|first1=Tami|date=30 July 2014|website=CNN Money|access-date=4 June 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.urban.org/research/publication/fewer-marriages-more-divergence-marriage-projections-millennials-age-40|title=Fewer Marriages, More Divergence: Marriage Projections for Millennials to Age 40|last1=Martin|first1=Steven|date=29 April 2014|access-date=4 June 2016|publisher=Urban Institute}}</ref> A 2016 study from [[Pew Research]] showed millennials delay some activities considered rites of passage of adulthood with data showing young adults aged 18–34 were more likely to live with parents than with a relationship partner, an unprecedented occurrence since data collection began in 1880. Data also showed a significant increase in the percentage of young adults living with parents compared to the previous demographic cohort, [[Generation X]], with 23% of young adults aged 18–34 living with parents in 2000, rising to 32% in 2014. Additionally, in 2000, 43% of those aged 18–34 were married or living with a partner, with this figure dropping to 32% in 2014. High student debt is described as one reason for continuing to live with parents, but may not be the dominant factor for this shift as the data shows the trend is stronger for those without a college education. Richard Fry, a senior economist for Pew Research said of millennials, "they're the group much more likely to live with their parents," further stating that "they're concentrating more on school, careers and work and less focused on forming new families, spouses or partners and children."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://latimes.com/business/la-fi-millennials-live-at-home-20160524-snap-story.html|title=More young adults live with parents than partners, a first|date=24 May 2016|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|access-date=31 May 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2016/05/24/for-first-time-in-modern-era-living-with-parents-edges-out-other-living-arrangements-for-18-to-34-year-olds/|title=For First Time in Modern Era, Living With Parents Edges Out Other Living Arrangements for 18- to 34-Year-Olds|last1=Fry|first1=Richard|date=24 May 2016|access-date=31 May 2016|publisher=Pew Research}}</ref>[[File:Dad with a Bjorn.jpg|thumb|A young father with a baby in Stockholm, Sweden (2015)|alt=|left]]
According to a cross-generational study comparing millennials to Generation X conducted at the [[Wharton School]] at the [[University of Pennsylvania]], more than half of millennial undergraduates surveyed do not plan to have children. The researchers compared surveys of the Wharton graduating class of 1992 and 2012. In 1992, 78% of women planned to eventually have children dropping to 42% in 2012. The results were similar for male students. The research revealed among both genders the proportion of undergraduates who reported they eventually planned to have children had dropped in half over the course of a generation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://worklife.wharton.upenn.edu/research/life-interests-of-wharton-students/|title=Life Interests Of Wharton Students|date=19 November 2012|website=Work/Life Integration Project|publisher=University of Pennsylvania|access-date=1 June 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Anderson|first1=Kare|date=5 October 2013|title=Baby Bust: Millennials' View Of Family, Work, Friendship And Doing Well|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/kareanderson/2013/10/05/baby-bust-millennials-view-of-family-work-friendship-and-doing-well/#6858f97070dd|magazine=Forbes|access-date=1 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160603182745/https://www.forbes.com/sites/kareanderson/2013/10/05/baby-bust-millennials-view-of-family-work-friendship-and-doing-well/#2d35696c2af0|archive-date=3 June 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.parents.com/blogs/parents-perspective/2014/01/10/the-parents-perspective/millennials-arent-planning-on-having-children-should-we-worry/|title=Millennials Aren't Planning on Having Children. Should We Worry?|last1=Assimon|first1=Jessie|access-date=1 June 2016|publisher=Parents}}</ref> ''[[Quest (Dutch magazine)|Quest]]'' reported in March 2020 that, in Belgium, 11% of women and 16% of men between the ages of 25 and 35 did not want children and that in the Netherlands, 10% of 30-year-old women polled had decided against having children or having more children.<ref name="van de Water">{{Cite news|author=Sebastiaan van de Water|date=20 March 2020|title=Zijn er nu meer mensen die geen kinderen willen dan vroeger?|language=nl|work=Quest|url=https://www.quest.nl/mens/lifestyle/a31780117/kinderwens-westerse-wereld-verdwenen/|access-date=30 May 2020}}</ref> A 2019 study revealed that among 191 Swedish men aged 20 to 50, 39 were not fathers and did not want to have children in the future (20.4%). Desire to have (more) children was not related to level of education, country of birth, sexual orientation or relationship status. Some Swedish men "passively" choose not to have children because they feel their life is already good as it is without bringing children to the world, and because they do not face the same amount of social pressure to have children the way [[Voluntary childlessness|voluntarily childless]] women do.<ref name="Bodin">{{cite journal |last1=Bodin |first1=Maja |last2=Plantin |first2=Lars |last3=Elmerstig |first3=Eva |title=A wonderful experience or a frightening commitment? An exploration of men's reasons to (not) have children |journal=Reproductive Biomedicine & Society Online |date=December 2019 |volume=9 |pages=19–27 |doi=10.1016/j.rbms.2019.11.002 |pmid=31938736 |pmc=6953767 }}</ref>

But as their economic prospects improve, most millennials in the United States say they desire marriage, children, and home ownership.<ref name="Frey-2018" /> Geopolitical analyst [[Peter Zeihan]] argued that because of the size of the millennial cohort relative to the size of the U.S. population and because they are having children, the United States will continue to maintain an economic advantage over most other developed nations, whose millennial cohorts are not only smaller than those of their elders but also do not have as high a fertility rate. The prospects of any given country is constrained by its demography.<ref name="Zeihan-2016" /> Psychologist Jean Twenge and a colleague's analysis of data from the General Social Survey of 40,000 Americans aged 30 and over from the 1970s to the 2010s suggests that socioeconomic status (as determined by factors such as income, educational attainment, and occupational prestige), marriage, and happiness are positive correlated and that these relationships are independent of cohort or age. However, the data cannot tell whether marriage causes happiness or the other way around; [[Correlation does not imply causation|correlation does not mean causation]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Twenge|first=Jean|date=20 July 2020|title=Marriage and Money: How Much Does Marriage Explain the Growing Class Divide in Happiness?|url=https://ifstudies.org/blog/marriage-and-money-how-much-does-marriage-explain-the-growing-class-divide-in-happiness|access-date=3 November 2020|website=Institute for Family Studies}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=J. M.|first1=Twenge|last2=Cooper|first2=A. B.|date=2020|title=The expanding class divide in happiness in the United States, 1972–2016|journal=Emotion|volume=22 |issue=4 |pages=701–713 |doi=10.1037/emo0000774|pmid=32567878|s2cid=219970975}}</ref>

In the United States, between the late 1970s and the late 2010s, the shares of people who were married declined among the lower class (from 60% down to 33%) and the middle class (84% down to 66%), but remained steady among the upper class (~80%). In fact, it was the lower and middle classes that were driving the U.S. marriage rate down.<ref name="Reeves-2020">{{Cite web|last1=Reeves|first1=Richard V.|last2=Pulliam|first2=Christopher|date=11 March 2020|title=Middle class marriage is declining, and likely deepening inequality|url=https://www.brookings.edu/research/middle-class-marriage-is-declining-and-likely-deepening-inequality/|access-date=1 January 2021|website=Brookings Institution}}</ref> Among Americans aged 25 to 39, the divorce rate per 1,000 married persons dropped from 30 to 24 between 1990 and 2015. For comparison, among those aged 50 and up, the divorce rate went from 5 in 1990 to 10 in 2015; that among people aged 40 to 49 increased from 18 to 21 per 1,000 married persons.<ref name="Stepler-2017">{{Cite web|last=Stepler|first=Renee|date=9 March 2017|title=Led by Baby Boomers, divorce rates climb for America's 50+ population|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/03/09/led-by-baby-boomers-divorce-rates-climb-for-americas-50-population/|access-date=10 November 2020|website=Pew Research Center}}</ref> In general, the level of education is a predictor of marriage and income. University graduates are more likely to get married and less likely to divorce.<ref name="Reeves-2020" /><ref name="Stepler-2017" />

Demographer and futurist Mark McCrindle suggested the name "[[Generation Alpha]]" (or Generation <math>\alpha</math>) for the offspring of a majority of millennials,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Lavelle|first=Daniel|date=4 January 2019|title=Move over, millennials and Gen Z – here comes Generation Alpha|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/shortcuts/2019/jan/04/move-over-millennials-and-gen-z-here-comes-generation-alpha|access-date=15 May 2019}}</ref> people born after [[Generation Z]],<ref name="Sterbenz, Christina">{{cite web|author=Sterbenz, Christina|date=6 December 2015|title=Here's who comes after Generation Z – and they're going to change the world forever|url=http://www.businessinsider.in/Heres-who-comes-after-Generation-Z-and-theyre-going-to-change-the-world-forever/articleshow/50060434.cms|access-date=10 December 2015|work=Business Insider}}</ref> noting that scientific disciplines often move to the [[Greek alphabet]] after exhausting the [[Roman alphabet]].<ref name="Sterbenz, Christina" /> By 2016, the cumulative number of American women of the millennial generation who had given birth at least once reached 17.3 million.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Livingston|first=Gretchen|date=4 May 2018|title=More than a million Millennials are becoming moms each year|work=Pew Research Center|department=Fact Tank|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/05/04/more-than-a-million-millennials-are-becoming-moms-each-year/|access-date=25 April 2020}}</ref> Globally, there are some two and a half million people belonging to Generation Alpha born every week and their number is expected to reach two billion by 2025.<ref name="Williams-2015">{{Cite news|last=Williams|first=Alex|date=19 September 2015|title=Meet Alpha: The Next 'Next Generation'|work=The New York Times|department=Fashion|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/19/fashion/meet-alpha-the-next-next-generation.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150922082428/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/19/fashion/meet-alpha-the-next-next-generation.html |archive-date=22 September 2015 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=7 September 2019}}</ref> However, most of the human population growth in the 2010s comes from Africa and Asia, as nations in Europe and the Americas tend to have too few children to replace themselves.<ref name="AFP-2018">{{Cite news|last=AFP|date=10 November 2018|title=Developing nations' rising birth rates fuel global baby boom|work=The Straits Times|url=https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/developing-nations-rising-birth-rates-fuel-global-baby-boom|access-date=2 February 2020}}</ref> According to the United Nations, the global annual rate of growth has been declining steadily since the late twentieth century, dropping to about one percent in 2019. They also discovered that fertility rates were falling faster in the developing world than previously thought, and subsequently revised their projection of human population in 2050 down to 9.7 billion.<ref name="TheEconomist-2019">{{Cite news|date=22 June 2019|title=The UN revises down its population forecasts|newspaper=The Economist|department=Demography|url=https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2019/06/22/the-un-revises-down-its-population-forecasts|access-date=20 January 2020}}</ref> Fertility rates have been falling around the world thanks to rising standards of living, better access to contraceptives, and improved educational and economic opportunities. The global average fertility rate was 2.4 in 2017, down from 4.7 in 1950.<ref name="Gallagher-2018">{{Cite news|last=Gallagher|first=James|date=9 November 2018|title='Remarkable' decline in fertility rates|work=BBC News|department=Health|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/health-46118103|access-date=1 January 2020}}</ref>

Effects of intensifying assortative mating (discussed in the previous section) will likely be seen in the next generation, as parental income and educational level are positively correlated with children's success.<ref name="Miller-2016" /> In the United States, children from families in the highest income quintile are the most likely to live with married parents (94% in 2018), followed by children of the middle class (74%) and the bottom quintile (35%).<ref name="Reeves-2020" />

Living in the digital age, millennial parents have taken plenty of photographs of their children and have chosen both digital storage (e.g., [[Dropbox]]) and physical [[photo album]]s to preserve their memories.<ref>{{Cite news|last=St-Esprit|first=Meg|date=7 December 2018|title=How millennial Parents Are Reinventing the Cherished Family Photo Album|work=The Atlantic|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2018/12/preserving-kids-photos-in-the-digital-age/577579/|access-date=26 October 2021|archive-url=https://archive.today/20210403232741/https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2018/12/preserving-kids-photos-in-the-digital-age/577579/|archive-date=3 April 2021}}</ref> Many millennial parents document the childhood and growth of their children on social media platforms such as [[Instagram]] and [[Facebook]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lauer |first=Alex |date=21 January 2020 |title=Millennials Opted in to Social Media. Their Kids Don't Get That Choice. |url=https://www.insidehook.com/culture/millennial-parents-children-social-media-instagram |access-date=19 March 2024 |website=InsideHook |language=en-US}}</ref>