- Marriage: Y the rush?
- By Caroline Marcus
- The Age
- 07/09/2008 Make a Comment
- Contributed by: MrSquiggle ( 3 articles in 2008 )
Not picky...Andrew Middlin and Sharnee Taylor have a relaxed attitude towards dating.
Generation Y are fussier when it comes to picking a partner than any previous generation but it seems to be working in their favour, experts say.
With the number of divorces falling, and the birth rate and average length of marriage on the way up, demographer Bernard Salt said the extended screening process was "part of Darwinian evolution."
Men and women are waiting longer than ever before marrying, that is, if they ever decide to exchange vows in the first place.
In 1976, the number of twentysomethings who were married or in de facto relationships - 1.4 million - far outweighed the 855,000 men and women who were still single, Salt writes in his new book Man Drought And Other Social Issues Of The New Century.
In 2001, the situation was reversed, with 2 million young people living as singles, and just 918,000 in partnerships.
Salt speculated that generation Y were quick to dismiss prospective partners because they had greater choice and were raised in "an era of immediacy".
"In some respects, we would say they are very impatient," Salt said. "If you have to wait more than one minute for your meal in McDonalds, you get it for free.
"What people are doing now is pooling as many candidates as they possibly can and screening out those who are too short, or too similar or not to their taste."
He said while the screening process had expanded, it was essentially the same as that of previous generations.
"Speed dating is the modern barn dance," he said. "This is part of Darwinian evolution. Basically, everyone is out to find the best mate possible."
He said with the average age of marriage for women rising from 21 in 1971 to 29 today, women had an additional eight years to search for their perfect match.
The extra time seems to be worth it, with Australian Bureau of Statistics figures showing that divorce rates had fallen last year by almost 10 per cent since their peak in 2003, an increased birth rate over the past five years, and the average duration of first marriage climbing from seven years in the early 1990s to 12.5 years in 2007.
"The seven-year itch needs to be recast," he said. "This might be because gen Y are spending more time on the selection process. They're not jumping in and choosing the first option out of secondary school."
Channel Ten's new dating show, Taken Out, in which a single man is paraded before 30 single women, appears to work on this principle.
The women opt in or out of a date with the man, after hearing new revelations in each stage of the game.
Host James Kerley, 26, admitted that his generation was "fussy".
"There is a fairly strong career focus in our generation and a lot of people are not aiming to get married at 21," said Kerley.
"It is probably an evolutionary thing, as well. Go back a couple of hundred years, and I'm pretty sure you'll find there's no Facebook, no texting and no MySpace.
"In the past, you could talk to people in your own town and in your city, and now, you can talk to people all over the world."
Generation Y are fussier when it comes to picking a partner than any previous generation but it seems to be working in their favour, experts say.
With the number of divorces falling, and the birth rate and average length of marriage on the way up, demographer Bernard Salt said the extended screening process was "part of Darwinian evolution."
Men and women are waiting longer than ever before marrying, that is, if they ever decide to exchange vows in the first place.
In 1976, the number of twentysomethings who were married or in de facto relationships - 1.4 million - far outweighed the 855,000 men and women who were still single, Salt writes in his new book Man Drought And Other Social Issues Of The New Century.
In 2001, the situation was reversed, with 2 million young people living as singles, and just 918,000 in partnerships.
Salt speculated that generation Y were quick to dismiss prospective partners because they had greater choice and were raised in "an era of immediacy".
"In some respects, we would say they are very impatient," Salt said. "If you have to wait more than one minute for your meal in McDonalds, you get it for free.
"What people are doing now is pooling as many candidates as they possibly can and screening out those who are too short, or too similar or not to their taste."
He said while the screening process had expanded, it was essentially the same as that of previous generations.
"Speed dating is the modern barn dance," he said. "This is part of Darwinian evolution. Basically, everyone is out to find the best mate possible."
He said with the average age of marriage for women rising from 21 in 1971 to 29 today, women had an additional eight years to search for their perfect match.
The extra time seems to be worth it, with Australian Bureau of Statistics figures showing that divorce rates had fallen last year by almost 10 per cent since their peak in 2003, an increased birth rate over the past five years, and the average duration of first marriage climbing from seven years in the early 1990s to 12.5 years in 2007.
"The seven-year itch needs to be recast," he said. "This might be because gen Y are spending more time on the selection process. They're not jumping in and choosing the first option out of secondary school."
Channel Ten's new dating show, Taken Out, in which a single man is paraded before 30 single women, appears to work on this principle.
The women opt in or out of a date with the man, after hearing new revelations in each stage of the game.
Host James Kerley, 26, admitted that his generation was "fussy".
"There is a fairly strong career focus in our generation and a lot of people are not aiming to get married at 21," said Kerley.
"It is probably an evolutionary thing, as well. Go back a couple of hundred years, and I'm pretty sure you'll find there's no Facebook, no texting and no MySpace.
"In the past, you could talk to people in your own town and in your city, and now, you can talk to people all over the world."
Source: https://www.theage.com.au/news/relationships/marriage-y-the-rush/2008/09/06/1220121596308.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
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