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Couples ditch love, marriage
By Martin English | November 29, 2004
From The Australian:
By Kate Legge
November 24, 2004
THE rise of do-it-yourself designer families has encouraged couples to defer committing to partnerships and babies, a new study by sociologist David Ve Vaus has found.
Launching his statistical road map of modern Australian families, Professor De Vaus said the pathways to parenting have become so fraught with choice that many people are choosing risk avoidance rather than committing to confetti and nappies.
The predictable pattern of boy meets girl leading to marriage and children has been transformed by a myriad of possibilities, including boy meets boy to woman becomes high-earning breadwinner and postpones pregnancy.
Professor De Vaus said the new script was a liberating experience for many people who like to exercise control and negotiate decisions with their partner.
But others found the challenges and risks of family formation in this age of diversity too difficult.
“The do-it-yourself, design-your-own family requires skills,” he said.
“Not everyone thrives on infinite choices … choices involve personal responsibility and risks – the risk of getting it wrong,” he said.
“Some of the trends we are seeing in family life suggest risk-avoidance behaviour, with people delaying partnering and having children.”
His report, covering 20 years of social, health and economic surveys, chronicles the shrinking of Australian households.
Families and households have become smaller through falling fertility rates, the ageing of our population, and rising numbers of people living alone.
Although the “mum, dad, and kids” model is likely to remain the dominant family form, the Australian Bureau of Statistics predicts that by 2016 couples without children will become the most common family type.
These may be young couples who have not yet had children, couples who never have children, and empty nesters whose children have flown the coup, representing the largest proportion of child-free families.
The report, titled Diversity and Change in Australian Familes, confirms there is no one-size-fits-all in a society that has divorce, blended families, abortion, contraception, living together before marriage, parenting out of wedlock, gay partnerships and women having children on their own.
Despite this smorgasbord, Professor De Vaus stressed that 90 per cent of families with dependent children are still the norm.
Most children are still reared by their biological parents, although today’s families are smaller and both mothers and fathers are likely to be employed.
“The response to this high level of diversity and choice is not to reimpose the old script or invent a new script. The challenge is to recognise the risks people face and help them make informed choices,” Professor de Vaus said.
He called on family members, and community and government policymakers to help equip young people to survive in this brave new world.
The fastest-growing household type is the person living at home alone. The family of one is increasing in every age group, with the number of younger people on their own exceeding the older households of widowed Australians.
Professor de Vaus said this trend reflected risk-aversion behaviour, with many people opting out of any social commitment altogether.
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