This week we had some particularly interesting discussions in my class. We talked about trends in marriage, relationships, fertility, and sexual relations. We looked at what the trends are showing and how connected we think they are. After we talked about the individual trends, we did an interesting activity. We then had to categorize the trends and had to decide if we thought they were not important, simply interesting, or if we thought they were important. In my personal opinion, I think you could take any one of these trends and pull something important from it and connect it to an issue in society. For example, we looked at the divorce rate, the statistics of premarital sexual relations, and the rate of people choosing to live alone. All three of these categories have all gone up (besides the divorce rate which had a positive correlation and then has stayed at a steady plateau). Another interesting set of facts is the later age that people are getting married. Back in the 60s, the average age to get married at was 20.5. Today the average age is 26 for women and 28 for men. So why is this? And what are some of the other trends that are connected?
Interestingly enough, the birthrate in our country has significantly dropped. This is the part of the week’s lessons and reading that I found very thought provoking and intriguing. I thought it was really interesting to learn that the birth rate has to be at a certain point or our population will not replenish itself. This is called the replacement rate. The fertility rate needs to be at 2.13 for this to take place or our society will not be reproducing to the extent that will allow for our population to maintain itself. I thought it was interesting that during the baby boom after the war our nation’s fertility rate was at 3.7 births per woman. Currently, the US fertility rate is at 1.9 births per woman. This is the sixth straight year that our fertility rate has been below this replacement rate. This is scary because although we will not see the immediate effects of this issue, we will see it in another generation or so. My professor shared an interesting story in class about a gentleman he became friends with from Italy that did not have kids. He yearned to hear about my professor’s kids and family life because he and his wife did not have that experience. One thing that hit me was that my professor said this man said to him “we were not thinking about being 65 when we were 25”. I think this is a vital concept to consider. One of the reasons that people put off having kids or choose not to have them is because they believe that children will hinder their success or economic prosperity. Many also believe children take away opportunities to travel and that having a family will limit their freedom. Although this man may have initially felt this way with his wife, as he was older and had traveled and gained countless assets to enjoy, he looked back and realized he and his wife did not have anyone to share them with. I think that many of the excuses people make about not having children are lies that the adversary feeds to the world to make the family unit seem less important. What if your parents had chosen money or traveling over you? If I know anything to be true, it is that the family is the most vital part of this life. At the end of your life, I don’t think you’ll remember your travels, your money, or the assets sitting in your home. You will think of your family and those you love dearly. So, why should we put off having families or make excuses to not have one at all? In the words of M. Russell Ballard: “What matters most is what lasts the longest, and family is eternal”.
The Simple life 