The empty nests are filling up: For the first time in modern history, young adults ages 18 to 34 are more likely to live with a parent than with a romantic partner, according to a new census analysis by the Pew Research Center.
皮尤研究中心(Pew Research Center)对人口普查数据进行的一项新分析显示,空巢开始不空了:18到34岁的年轻人更有可能与父母,而非与恋人同住,这在近现代历史上属首次。
Millennials, who have been slower than previous generations to marry and set up their own households, reached that milestone in 2014, when 32.1 percent lived in a parent’s home, compared with 31.6 percent who lived with a spouse or a partner, the report found.
结婚和组建家庭的时间都比前几代人晚的千禧一代,在2014年迎来了这个转折点。报告发现,当年32.1%的人生活在父母家里,相比之下只有31.6%的人和配偶或伴侣同住。
“The really seismic change is that we have so many fewer young adults partnering, either marrying or cohabiting,” said Richard Fry, the Pew economist who wrote the report. “In 1960, that silent generation left home earlier than any generation before or after, because they married so young.”
“真正的巨变是,有伴侣的年轻人少多了,不管是以结婚还是同居的方式,”撰写该报告的皮尤中心经济学家理查德·弗莱(Richard Fry)说。“1960年,沉默的一代离家的时间比之前或之后的任何一代人都早,因为他们结婚太早了。”
But in recent decades, fewer people have been marrying, and those who do are marrying at older ages. In 1960, the median age for a first marriage was 20 for women and 22 for men, and just one in 10 people over 25 had never married. Now, the median ages are 27 and 29, and one in five adults older than 25 has never married. In a 2014 study, Pew projected that a quarter of this generation of young adults might never marry.
但最近几十年,结婚的人减少,结婚的年龄延后。1960年,女性初婚年龄的中位数是20岁,男性是22岁。25岁以上的人群中未婚者仅占十分之一。现在,男女的初婚年龄中位数分别是29岁和27岁,25岁以上的群体中未婚者占五分之一。在2014年的一项研究中,皮尤中心预测,这一代年轻人中四分之一可能会终身不结婚。
“This is neither the best nor the worst development we’ve seen in family life,” said Andrew J. Cherlin, a sociologist at Johns Hopkins University. “It violates our cultural sense of how young adults should live their lives. But in Italy, an even greater percentage live with the parents, and no one sees it as problem. Families can feel closer to each other and have longer times together.”
“这不是我们在家庭生活中看到的最好的发展动向,也不是最坏的,”约翰·霍普金斯大学(Johns Hopkins University)的社会学家安德鲁·J·切尔林(Andrew J. Cherlin)说。“它有违我们关于年轻人应该如何生活的文化理念。但在意大利,与父母同住的年轻人比例甚至更高,没人觉得有问题。家人会觉得彼此之间更亲近,相互陪伴的时间更多了。”
But in some cases, he cautioned, the grown children’s continued presence in the parental home can signal an inability to take the steps needed to become real adults.
但有时,他告诫说,已成年子女继续生活在父母家里可能标志着,他们无法迈出成为真正的成年人所需的步伐。
“Some young adults have the failure-to-launch syndrome,” he said. “Others are living their own lives, saving money but not having to pay rent while they enroll in grad school or get the internships they need.”
“有些年轻人是有‘起步失败综合征’,”他说。“有些则是为了读研究生或得到想要的实习职位,他们自食其力,积攒积蓄,只是不用交房租而已。”
As far back as 1880, romantic coupling was the most common living arrangement for young adults.
早在1880年,恋人同居就已是年轻人中最常见的居住安排形式。
While living with parents is now on the rise, the report found, other accommodations, too, are becoming more common. About 22 percent of young adults now live in a dormitory or a prison, or with a relative like a grandparent or a sibling — compared with 13 percent in 1960.
报告发现,在与父母同住的趋势增强的同时,其他居住形式也变得更常见。眼下,大约22%的年轻人住在宿舍或监狱里,或是和祖父母或兄弟姐妹同住。相比之下,1960年时这个比例仅为13%。
With the growing rates of single parenthood, about 14 percent of young adults — nearly triple the share in 1960 — head their own households, some living with roommates or boarders, others alone or with their young children.
随着单亲父母的比例增加,大约14%的年轻人——这个比例几乎是1960年的三倍——自己是户主,一些人和室友或寄宿者同住,其他人独居或与自己年幼的孩子同住。
Young men have consistently been more likely to live with their parents than young women have, and that remains true, generally because women marry younger and move out. But now living with parents is on the cusp of becoming the dominant arrangement for young women as well.
年轻男性始终比年轻女性更有可能与父母同住。这一点没变,总的来说是因为女性结婚更早,会搬出去。但现在,与父母同住也即将成为年轻女性的主要居住安排形式。
“What you tend to see is that racial and ethnic minorities, African-Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans, especially from disadvantaged backgrounds, are the most likely to be living in their parent’s home and the least likely to have a partner,” Mr. Fry said, adding that financial difficulties helped explain that finding.
“往往会发现少数族群,非裔、西语裔和非洲原住民,特别是来自下层社会的,和父母同住的可能性最高,有伴侣的可能性最低,”弗莱说。他还表示经济困难有助于解释这个发现。
“So you might think that the growing diversification of the population is what accounts for the shift to living with parents,” he continued. “But that doesn’t explain it, since even among white young adults, about 20 percent lived with their parents in 1960, and about 30 percent in 2014. So even if the population had not diversified, we would still see this large increase in living with parents.”
“于是,人们可能会以为人口构成日渐多元是出现与父母同住这种转变的原因,”他接着说。“但它解释不了这个现象,因为即便是在白人年轻人中,与父母同住者的比例也从1960年的大约20%上升到了2014年的大约30%。因此,即便人口没这么多元,我们还是会看到与父母同住的人大幅增加。”