|
|
North America (Part Three)
|
|
|
| 45 percent
of the U.S.'s 2003 juvenile arrests for violent crimes were arrests of Black juveniles – but Blacks only make up 16 percent of the juvenile population. Whites, on the other hand, are 78 percent of the juvenile population, but only 53 percent of juvenile violent crime arrests. In that study, Hispanics were included in the white population. 9.
26 percent
of juvenile arrests for drug use were arrests of Black juveniles – ten percent higher than the percent of Black juveniles in the population. 10.
In 2000, for every 100,000 U.S. juveniles, 1,004 juvenile Blacks were in custody. That's more than twice as high as the rate for Hispanics (416) and almost five-times the number for non-Hispanic whites (212). 11.
In 1998-1999, Black juveniles made up 16 percent of the juvenile population – but they were 39 percent of the juvenile population in custody. 12.
|
|
|
|
|
And here's the real kicker –
in every single category of the juvenile system – the overrepresentation of Black youths in the system has gone down. It was even worse in the past. 13.
|
|
|
|
| In 2003, Black juvenile were arrested for violent crimes at a rate four times that of whites. But in 1980, the disparity was even worse: for every one white juvenile arrested for violent crimes, 6.3 Black juveniles had been arrested. 14.
In 1990-1991, Black juveniles made up 15 percent of the juvenile population – but they were 46 percent of the juvenile population in custody. That's seven percent higher than it was in 1999. 15.
|
|
|
|
|
In Illinois, there were 2,457 drug arrests of juveniles for every 100,000 juveniles. 16.
In Maryland, there were 1,235 drug arrests of juveniles for every 100,000 juveniles. 17.
In California, there were 523 drug arrests of juveniles for every 100,000 juveniles. 18.
In New York, there were 569 drug arrests of juveniles for every 100,000 juveniles. 19.
In West Virginia, there were 157 drug arrests of juveniles for every 100,000 juveniles. 20.
A 19 percent increase
in the arrests of juveniles for drug-related charges, from 1994 to 2003. But the increase as dramatically higher for females – their arrests went up 56 percent, while males' arrests increased by 13 percent. 21.
51 percent
of those arrested in the U.S. for arson in 2003 were juveniles. 22.
39 percent
of those arrested in the U.S. for vandalism in 2003 were juveniles. 23.
16 percent
of those in the U.S. arrested for forcible rape in 2003 were juveniles. 24.
Nine percent
of those in the U.S. arrested for murder in 2003 were juveniles. 25.
1,130
U.S. juveniles were arrested for murder and non-negligent manslaughter in 2003, 68 percent lower than the number in 1994. 26.
VIOLENCE COMMITTED AGAINST CHILDREN
No Constitutional duty to protect a child –
While there are various state requirements for reporting suspected incidents of child abuse and neglect, under the U.S. Constitution, the state does not have to duty a child to protect a child from an abusive family once they've been notified of that abuse. In DeShaney v. Winnebago County Dept. of Social Services, social workers knew for two years that a child was being beaten, but they failed to remove him from the home. Then, when the child was four years old, his father bashed the child’s head in enough to send the little boy into a coma; he had such severe brain damage that he had to be institutionalized – probably for life. The Supreme Court held that, although it was tragic, the government has no affirmative duty to provide government aid to its citizens, and, therefore, isn’t liable for injuries when it did not provide them. Neither of the key facts – that the child could not have done anything on his own to leave the family and that the state knew what was happening – did changed the analysis. 27.
More than 2 million violent crimes
are committed against children in the U.S. each year. 28.
23 percent
of children under age 13 were 23 percent of murder victims killed by a family member, while they were just over three percent of nonfamily murder victims. 29.
Seven Years Old
The average age among sons or daughters killed by a parent in the U.S. Four out of five children killed by a parent were under age 13. Among incidents of parents killing their children, 19 percent of them involved one parent killing multiple victims. 30.
1,550 out of 16,500
Out of the 16,500 U.S. reported murders in 2003, 1,550 of the victims were juveniles. 31.
Hands or feet –
are the apparent weapon of choice for child murder. Hands or feet were the only weapon used in the 51 percent of the murders of U.S. children under the age of five, making physical assault the most common method of child murder. For the total population, the most common lethal weapon was the handgun. 32.
More than 100,000 incidents
of sexual assaults and sexual abuse are committed against children in the U.S. each year. 33.
More than half
of U.S. women who had reported in a survey that they had been raped at some point in their lives, said that the first rape occurred before they were 17 years old. 22 percent were under 12; 32 percent were between 12 and 17 years old. 34.
52 percent
of U.S. women in a survey who reported that they had been been physically assaulted as a child. 35.
Two-thirds
of teenage pregnant mothers in a 1996 California study were the victims of child abuse. One-fourth reported that they had been raped. Among the victims, the first attack usually happened when the child was 12. The attacker, sometimes a friend or family member, was 22 years old. 36.
56,900
U.S. children were permanently abandoned in 1993. 42.
1,682,900 children in the U.S.
ran away or were thrown out of the house in 1999. Of these, 68 percent where between 15 and 17 years old. 43.
No evidence to support it –
despite the ever-increasing media attention on missing children, there is no evidence to support that the incidence of missing children rose in the U.S. from 1988 to 1999. 61.
99.8 percent
of missing children (1,312,800) in the U.S. in 1999 were returned home alive or located. 0.2 percent or 2,500 had not returned home or been located, and the vast majority of these were juvenile runaways from institutions. 62.
374,700
Number of U.S. children were missing for benign reasons in 1999. Of these, 315,300 were home within six hours. 44.
204,500
Number of times U.S. children were involuntarily missing, because they were lost, injured or stranded in 1999. Of these, 175,400 were home within six hours. 45.
The police were called in
for just one-third of the instances when U.S. children were missing because they were lost, injured or stranded in 1999. 46.
From less than one hour, to six hours –
85 percent of the time, when U.S. children are missing because of benign reasons – a miscommunication, a child forgets to call, a babysitter takes a child to the wrong place – the children are back with their caregivers within one to six hours. 47.
From less than one hour, to six hours –
85 percent of the time when U.S. children are missing because they are lost, injured or stranded – the children are back with their caregivers within one to six hours – exactly the same as those who were missing for benign reasons. 48.
Within 24 hours
96 percent of the time when U.S. children are missing for benign reasons, the children are back with their caregivers within 24 hours. 49.
Within 24 hours
93 percent of the time when U.S. children are missing because they are lost or injured or stranded, the children are back with their caregivers within 24 hours. 50.
21 percent of time
that U.S. children who are involuntarily missing, it's because they've been injured. 51.
48 percent of the time,
U.S. missing children are missing because they ran away, or were thrown out of the house. 52.
28 percent of time, U.S. missing children are missing for benign reasons –
are missing because the child skipped school, visited a friend's house without permission, stayed out past curfew without calling. And they were returned home unharmed. 53.
Nine percent of all U.S. missing children are missing because they were abducted by a family member –
That's an estimated 117,200 who were abducted by a parent or other family member. 54.
|
|
|
|
| Three percent of all U.S. missing children are missing because they were abducted by someone other than a family member –
|
|
|
|
| That's an estimated 33,000 who were abducted by someone other family member.
53 percent of the time, the child knew the person.
|
|
|
|
| But that amount does not include just the classic kidnapping you hear about on the news. That includes any child who was kept for over an hour or more by an adult who threatened to injure them. Tragically, it includes, for instance, strangers catching a child on his way home from school, forcing him to have sex. But that number also includes:
|
|
|
|
| A babysitter who won't let the children go home until she's paid.
A 17-year-old ex-boyfriend who forces his 15-year-old girlfriend to ride around in his car or have sex with him.
A child taken on a joyride by a bus driver. 55.
|
|
|
|
| Just 0.47 out of every 1,000 –
33,000 out of 70,172,100 U.S. children are abducted by a nonfamily member. The number is so small, that it's considered difficult to calculate an exact amount. 56.
115 children in the U.S.
were taken in a classic stranger kidnapping in 1999. 57.
46
of the children in the U.S. in 1999 taken in a stereotypical kidnapping were killed. Another five were not found by at least 2002. 58.
98 percent of children
taken in nonfamily abduction return home uninjured. 59.
1.3 million U.S. children
were missing in 1999. Estimated number, including both reported and nonreported incidents. 60.
CHILD LABOR
One-fifth
In 1900, nearly a fifth of all children in the U.S., aged 10-to-16-year-old, were working. That had been a larger percentage than had been found in any previous census year. 65.
"In its various phases child labor had existed in America from earliest times, but it did not become a serious menace until the later decades of the nineteenth century when increasing numbers of children were caught in the toils of the spreading factory system. By 1900 the number under sixteen engaged in gainful occupations was at least 1.7 million, and some students of the child-labor problem placed the figure even higher. The majority (60 percent) were agricultural workers who labored under conditions that might not be deleterious, but the reports that came in of the twelve-hour day in the berry fields of New Jersey, of the congestion, overwork, and immortality among the young workers in the vegetable gardens of Delaware and Maryland, the beet-sugar fields of Michigan, Nebraska, and Colorado, and the tobacco fields and stripping farms of Connecticut, Kentucky, Virginia and Pennsylvania were anything by encouraging." 66.
"The worst conditions, however, prevailed in manufacturing in which about 16 percent of the child workers were engaged. The picture of chil-dren kept awake during the long night in a Southern mill by having cold water dashed on their faces, of little girls in canning factories "snipping" sixteen or more hours a day or capping forty cans a minute in an effort to keep pace with a never exhausted machine, of little ten-year-old breaker boys crouched for ten hours a day over a dusty coal chute to pick sharp slate out of the fast-moving coal, of boys imported from orphan asylums and reformatories to wreck their bodies in the slavery of a glass factory, or of a four-year-old baby toiling until midnight over artificial flowers in a New York tenement. . . ." 67.
Less than one-twentieth
By 1930, less than one-twentieth of the 10-to-16-year-old children in the U.S. were working. But that may have had more to do with the joblessness of the Depression, than a new conviction against child labor. 68.
CHILD POVERTY
29.0 million
The average number of U.S. children in need fed each month through the national school lunch program. 77.
30 percent
the childhood poverty rate in the U.S. in the 1950s. 78.
17.8 percent
of U.S. children – 13.0 million – under 18 years old live in poverty. 4.7 million of the children are under the age of six. The poverty rate for children is higher than that of adults – including senior citizens. 79.
Higher –
The poverty rate for U.S. children is higher than that of adults – including senior citizens. 80.
35.2 percent
of those in poverty in the U.S. are children – despite the fact that they are just 25.2 percent of the total population. 81.
19.9 percent
The 2003-2004 poverty rate for related U.S. children under six living in families – 4.7 million.and the number in poverty for related children under 6 living in families were 19.9 percent and 4.7 million, both unchanged from 2003. Of related children under 6 living in families with female householders with no husband present, 52.6 percent were in poverty, about five times the rate of their counterparts in married couple families (10.1 percent). 82.
Five times as likely
U.S. children living in mother-only family groups are almost five times more likely to be in poverty as children who live in married-couple family groups (39 percent and 8 percent, respectively). 83.
23 percent
of U.S. children who live with a foreign-born householder are in poverty – compared to 15 percent of those living with a native-born householder. 84.
More than one-third
of U.S. children aged 16 and 17 who are enrolled in school are also in the labor force. 85.
Seven percent
of U.S. children live in households which receive some type of state or local assistance. 86.
CHILDREN IN COLONIAL AMERICA
“. . . moments after birth when the midwife placed the newborn on her lap and began molding and smoothing the head and pulling the arms and legs to their full extension, rubbing and shaping them so that the child would grow straight and tall. She then preserved her handiwork by swaddling the infant in bands of linen wrapped tightly around the legs and torso. Another band held the child’s arms straight against the body. Yet another piece of cloth, the stay band, she secured at the forehead and shoulders with additional strips of cloth. The end result was an immobile little mummified package, about the size and shape of a loaf of bread, which could be placed in a cradle or basket or even hung from a peg on the wall. . . .
“Beyond the perceived physical benefits from swaddling, adults believed that, without swaddling bands to keep the legs extended and the back straight, the naturally curving infant body would never grow into an upright human being.” 12.
“The swaddled infant slept in a cradle, a term that referred to any bed prepared for a babe, whether it was a wicker basket, old box, chest . . . . What really mattered was that any separate bed was believed better for the infant than being put to sleep with its mother, nurse, or some other older person. Adults, exhausted by hard physical work and commonly dulled with alcohol, could all too easily roll on an infant in the night and smother it. Since ‘laying over’ [an adult sleeping with an infant accidentally smothering the baby to death while asleep] was a highly feared form of infant mortality, the child who slept alone slept most safely.” The cradle was moveable, and went with the parents, in different parts of the house, near the fire, near the parents’ bed, as needed." 13.
“Babies outgrew both swaddling clothes and cradles by the end of their first year. Long petticoats helped to keep infants warm and effectively foiled any attempt the baby made to crawl. Parents and physicians alike viewed crawling on all fours, not as a natural stage of human development, but as a bad habit that, if not thwarted, would remaining the baby’s primary form of locomotion for the rest of his life. As late as 1839 . . . many American mothers still prohibited their little children from crawling.” 14.
“Infancy represented such a precarious existence that parents regarded it essentially as a state of illness. Babies needed to be protected assiduously and pushed beyond infancy as quickly as possible. Growing up meant growing strong and gaining sufficient autonomy to be able to take care of oneself.” 15.
CHILDREN IN EARLY AMERICA (1770-1830)
As young as three,
children were working in British and American cotton mills and other factories of the 1700s. Children were sometimes flogged if they couldn't keep up with the work. 23.
CHILDREN IN THE VICTORIAN ERA (1830-1900)
To stop them from an early loss of innocence, Victorian parents fed their children plain, bland, simple foods (believing spicy food might stimulate them too much), had them wear clothes that wouldn’t lead to accidental genital stimulation, wouldn’t let them play games that would lead to problems (ride a hobby horse), wouldn’t engage in activities that would lead to intimate situations, etc. 30.
Children were now sleeping in cribs – from infancy to toddlers. The idea was now not to prevent them from walking, but it was to keep them in a safe environment. The young babies/kids were isolated from adult activity in the home, kept in “swings” (indoor swing seats they couldn’t get out of, be it a baby or toddler) – or the nursery (which was a playroom / bedroom) with cribs and regulated schedules, etc. (Except for dinner – in the US, the kids usually ate with the adults, but they ate the bland puddings while grown-ups ate grown-up food; in Europe, the kids wouldn’t have eaten with them either). When the American kids got older, they got their own rooms, because getting their own room was a start of their individualism. (In Europe, even wealthy families, had the siblings sharing rooms.) 31.
Over 100,000
children at work in New York area factories in 1873. 32.
25,000
The number of New York street children sent to the West by the Children's Aid Society by 1873 – sending about 3,000 a year for 20 years. The society had another 9,000 in night school in New York. 33.
12,000
The number of homeless children being taken in a year by a few New York shelters in 1873. 34.
CHILDREN IN THE MODERN ERA (1900 TO PRESENT)
“The popularity of educational toys [begun in the 1770s] continued and expanded in the twentieth century, but what was really new was the acceptance and encouragement of a fantasy world for children. Colonial and Victorian parents shunned make-believe as the propagation of falsehood. At best, make-believe confused children; at worst, it was lying . Only with the gradual acceptance of the mischievous child in the twentieth century did middle-class parents accept fantasy as a harmless pleasure for children. To the traditional stories of children facing moral dilemmas now were added the stories of Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, Winnie the Pooh, The Wizard of Oz, and the tale of Beatrix Potter. Soft cuddly Brownies, Kewpies . . . and, of course, bears, filled the playroom. These were the first stuffed toys, and the tactile pleasure the toys offered their little owners brought a sense of comfort and security. . .. Children live in a world where everyone is bigger, stronger, and smarter than they. They therefore can find relief and delight in the company of someone smaller and weaker than themselves whom they can dominate or protect. . . Soft toys have remained popular throughout the twentieth century and beyond and have become such a commonplace of childhood that we tend to forget how very modern the concept actually is. 35.
By 1903, the New York Foundling Hospital had been in operation 30 years: it had had to find homes for over 40,000 children, while in New York, the local Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children took in as many as 15,000 children ("in many cases cruelty on the part of their own parents, in others on the part of those in whose custody the children have been left by parents unwilling or incompetent to take care of them.") in one year. 36.
“Separate children’s rooms remained important, but by the last half of the twentieth century few parents believed that it was possible to isolate their children from the realities of the world in order that they might remain carefree and innocent as long as possible. . . . The modern home became permeable to knowledge . . . . The protected child was once again the child who has been prepared to cope successfully when faced with the adult world. What Victorian parents sought to preserve as innocence in their children, modern parents feared as ignorance that put a child at risk.” 37.
Pink and Blue
didn't really start being used for baby clothes until the 1950s. Before that, their clothes didn't saying anything about their gender: all children, boys and girls, wore white. And there really wasn't a historical gender difference between children's clothing. Instead, their clothes were interchangeable: baby boys wore dresses until the Depression. Later, as boys were wearing shorts and pants, girls gradually adopted those clothes as their own – but boys never emulated the girls in the same way. 38.
EDUCATION IN THE U.S.
74.9 million
Students in the U.S., from nursery school to college. That amounts to more than one-fourth of the U.S. population age three and older. 1.
3.1 million
The estimated number of high school diplomas that will be given out in the U.S. in 2005. 2.
Between 3 and 4 percent
of high school students dropped out of school during the 10th to 12th grades from 2001-2003. 3.
46 percent
U.S. high school graduates aged 18 to 24 are in college. 4.
56 percent
– a clear majority – of those U.S college students are women. 5.
2.7 million
The estimated number of college degrees that will be awarded in the U.S. in 2005. 6.
12.1 million
The number of students in U.S. colleges and universities in 1980. 7.
16.7 million
The estimated number of students in U.S. colleges and universities in 2005. 8.
|
|
|
|
| In 1920, only 16 percent of children graduated high school. 9.
|
|
|
|
|
In 1948, two-thirds
of American parents were under 30 years old, and had no education beyond grade school. Mothers had a slightly higher educational attainment – but both the mothers and the fathers had little more than an eighth grade education. 10.
Today, 84 percent of children graduate high school. 11.
|
|
|
|
|
At the right is a U.S. Census chart showing the dramatic increase in the number of men and women enrolled in college from 1955 to 2003.
For college students under 25 years old, it's been an almost five-fold increase – from just under 2 million to over 10 million.
Census doesn't have data for older students prior to 1973, but the growth just since then has been a tripling of their enrollment. 12.
|
|
|
|
|
How far does the apple far from the tree?
|
|
|
|
| 78 percent
of U.S. students who began post-secondary education from 1992 to 2002 had at least one parent who had gone to college. 13.
22 percent
of U.S. students who began post-secondary education from 1992 to 2002 were the first in their families to go to college. Almost one-half of these students left school without graduating. 14.
68 percent
Of U.S. students who began post-secondary education from 1992 to 2002 and had at least one parent with a Bachelor's degree at a minimum, 68 percent completed their degrees: just 20 percent left school without the degree. 15.
59 percent
of U.S. medical students have at least one parent with a graduate or professional degree of his or her own. 16.
43 percent
of U.S. law students have at least one parent with a graduate or professional degree of his or her own. 17.
|
|
|
|
|
12 percent
of U.S. elementary and high school students are enrolled in private institutions. 18.
21 percent
of U.S. elementary and high school students in 1970 were members of a racial or ethnic minority other than non-Hispanic white. 19.
40 percent
of U.S. elementary and high school students in 2005 are members of a racial or ethnic minority other than non-Hispanic white. 20.
22 percent
of U.S. elementary and high school students have at least one parent who was not born in the U.S. Of these, six percent of the students themselves were born elsewhere. 21.
60 percent
of U.S college students have jobs while they are in school. 22.
68 percent
of U.S college students are non-Hispanic whites. 23.
13 percent
of U.S college students are black. 24.
Seven percent
of U.S college students are Asian. 25.
10 percent
of U.S college students are Hispanic. 26.
14 percent
of the U.S. Black population, 25 and older had a bachelor’s degree or more education, compared with 24 percent of the total U.S. population. For Black women, the rate is 15 percent, two-thirds of that for all U.S. women. The percent of college educated black men is half that of the rate for all U.S. men – 13 percent compared to 26 percent. 27.
28 percent
of the U.S. Black population, 25 and older has an associate degree, or some college education, slightly over the national rate (27 percent). percent of the total U.S. population. 28.
44.1 percent
of Asians in the U.S. have a Bachelor’s degree or higher– almost twice the U.S. national rate of 24.4 percent. And Asian Indians in the U.S. have a rate nearly three times the national average: 63.9 percent have graduated from college. 29.
37 percent
of U.S college students are 25 years old or older. That's been a fairly consistent percentage since the late 1980s. 30.
Doubled –
the percentage of Americans aged 20, 25, and 30 enrolled in school from 1960 to 2000. 31.
Less than seven dollars a year –
The amount of money spent on educating their children in 1948, by an average U.S. family with an income of under $2,000. 32.
$1,386
Annual tuition at a public, four-year college in 1985. Private four-year institutions cost $6,843 that year. 28.
$5,135
Annual tuition at a public, four-year college in 2003. Private four-year institutions cost $22,686 that year. 29.
About 500,000 of over 8 million
Number of U.S. children enrolled in U.S. nursery schools in 1964, compared to the number of children aged 3-4 years old. 30.
About 5 million of 8 million
Number of U.S. children enrolled in U.S. nursery schools in 2005, compared to the number of children aged 3-4 years old. 31.
34 percent
of U.S. children of mothers who aren't high school graduates were in nursery schools in 2005. 32.
64 percent
of U.S. children who have college-educated mothers were in nursery schools in 2005. 33.
48 percent
of U.S. children with stay-at-home moms were in went to nursery schools in 2005 – which isn't much lower than the percent for working moms (53 percent). 34.
In the U.S. "In 2000, 70 percent of men aged 30 had left home, were financially independent, and had completed their schooling, just 12 points lower than was true of 30-year-old men in 1960. Nearly 75 percent of 30-year-old women in 2000 met this standard, compared to nearly 85 percent of women in 1960." 35.
|
|
|
|
| To the right is a U.S. Census chart that dramatically illustrates the differences of educational attainment between the American generations. 36.
|
|
|
|
| Higher educational attainment "may break down traditional values and norms, including family values, which entails a specific obligation for the children to support and care for their elderly parents." Experts aren’t sure why, but it could be for two reasons:
|
|
|
|
| "1. increased schooling results in children spending less time receiving care and guidance from their parents, and hence the feeling of debt towards the parents is reduced
2. because of the content in formal schooling which in some developing countries is heavily westernized and the system tends to inculcate western values of individualism and self realization." 44.
|
|
|
|
|
In 1950, sociologist Hollingshead determined that an education gap between parents and children was one of the major problems confronting lower-middle-class U.S. families. He wrote: “Parents generally have high educational aspirations for their children, but income limitations often compel them to compromise with less education than they desire, an possibly different kind from what they would choose. Parents acutely see the need for a good formal education, and they make heavy sacrifices to give their children the educational training that will enable them to take over positions held by persons in the upper-middle class. By stressing education for the child, parents many times unwittingly create conflicts for themselves and their children, because the educational goals they set for the child train him in values that lead him away from this family. This process, while it does not have a direct bearing on the stability of the nuclear family, acts as a divisive factor that splits parents and children apart, as well as brothers and sisters who have received different amounts of education and follow different job channels.” 47.
|
|
|
|
|
$18,734
Average annual earnings for U.S. workers aged 18 and over, who do not have a high school diploma. 48.
$27,915
Average annual earnings for U.S. workers aged 18 and over, who have a high school diploma, but no further education. 49.
$51,206
Average annual earnings for U.S. workers aged 18 and over, who have a bachelor's degree. 50.
$74,602
Average annual earnings for U.S. workers aged 18 and over, who have an advanced degree (e.g., a masters or doctorate). 51.
Just to stay in the Middle Class –
it is "almost imperative" that Americans remain in school until at least their early 20s, if they want to enter or remain in the middle class, economically. 52.
During the nineteenth century, the amount of American women forgoing marriage increased, and was particularly large among those women who were college educated. Instead of getting married, the women sometimes lived in a partnership called "Boston marriage." 53.
Less kids
In 1948, Newsweek reported the American parents with the least education had the biggest families – those who had just five years of schooling had 2.5 children for parents, while college-educated parents had just 1.8 children. 58.
WHAT MAKES A GROWN UP?
“And as the inner life--this is all in Western history, of course--as the inner life takes over our philosophy of work, as people start asking, What do you want to be when you grow up?' it becomes impossible to stop that question from seeping into the rest of your life. Who do you want to be with when you grow up?' That's really a large question about who you are inside, What do you want to be when you grow up?' And once it's asked, once your work is no longer handed down to you, you know, you don't wear your parents' clothes or use the loom that your parents used, but have to go invent your life for yourself . . . .” 1.
"By the 1950s and 1960s, most Americans viewed family roles and adult responsibilities as nearly synonymous. In that era, most women married before they were 21 and had at least one child before they were 23. For men, having the means to marry and support a family was the defining characteristic of adulthood, while for women, merely getting married and becoming a mother conferred adult status." 2.
In the U.S., leaving home is a particularly important element of becoming an adult, because "for much of the twentieth century, home-leaving was the starting point for a range of processes that signaled the transition from youth to adulthood. Most young people left home to marry, complete their education, serve in the military, or to work. With those changes came parenthood and economic independence. The timing of the components of home-leaving has changed, making the whole process occur earlier or later, or even become reversible as people return home. In these transitions we see the outline of change in their lives and in the experiences of American society as a whole." 3.
70 percent
of 25-year-old women in 1960 had attained traditional adult status defined as: leaving home, finishing school, getting married, having a child, and being financially independent. 4.
25 percent
of 25-year-old women in 2000 had attained traditional adult status defined as: leaving home, finishing school, getting married, having a child, and being financially independent. On the other hand, in 2000, 25-year-old women had increased their participation in the labor force to levels approaching those of 25-year old men. 5.
65 percent
of 30-year-old American men in 1960 had achieved all of the traditional benchmarks of “becoming an adult,” defined as: leaving home, finishing school, getting married, having a child, and being financially independent. 6.
Less than half of that –
31 percent – of 30-year-old American men in 2000 had achieved all of the traditional benchmarks of “becoming an adult,” defined as: leaving home, finishing school, getting married, having a child, and being financially independent. 7.
77 percent
of 30-year-old American women in 1960 had achieved all of the traditional benchmarks of “becoming an adult,” defined as leaving home, finishing school, getting married, having a child, and being financially independent. 8.
About two-thirds of that –
– 46 percent – of 30-year-old American women in 2000 had achieved all of the traditional benchmarks of “becoming an adult,” defined as: leaving home, finishing school, getting married, having a child, and being financially independent. 9.
70 percent
of 30-year-old American men in 2000 who had achieved all of modern benchmarks of “becoming an adult,” defined as: leaving home, finishing school, and being financially independent, but did not include getting married or having a child. While higher than the traditional benchmarks, if the modern benchmarks were applied to 1960, a still greater number of those 30-year-old men (82 percent) would have accomplished all of these. 10.
75 percent
of 30-year-old American women in 2000 who had achieved all of modern benchmarks of “becoming an adult,” defined as: leaving home, finishing school, and being financially independent – but did not include getting married or having a child. While higher than the traditional benchmarks, if the modern benchmarks were applied to 1960, a still greater number of those 30-year-old women (85 percent) would have accomplished all of these. 11.
Two-thirds
The amount of U.S. adults in their early 20s who receive economic support from parents. 40 percent still receive financial assistance in their late 20s. "A century ago, it was the other way around: young adults typically helped their parents when they first went to work, if (as was common) they still lived with their parents." 12.
70 percent
of American men in the mid-1990s, age 24-28, earn enough to support themselves. 13.
But less than half of them –
that is, American men in the mid-1990s, age 24-28 – earned enough to support a family of three. 14.
WHEN ARE THEY LEAVING HOME?
62 percent
of American college students surveyed expect to live at home after graduation. 24.
20 percent
of U.S. men aged 25 to 29 were living with their parents in the 1990s. 25.
12 percent
of U.S. women aged 25 to 29 were living with their parents in the 1990s. 26.
Seven percent
of U.S. women 25-34 years old were living with their parents in 2003. 27.
13.5 percent
of U.S. men 25-34 years old were living with their parents in 2003. 28.
"In England, the Netherlands, and the United States, for example, young adults often remain at home past 20 years of age, while in Spain and Portugal some people leave home before marriage and others continue to live with their parents after marriage, at least for awhile. In fact, temporary coresidence of parents and married children, and even prolonged periods of economic help, have never been infrequent, either in the past or today. Nevertheless, these moments of help were always considered as exceptional by everyone. These exceptions only underlie the great differences between northern and southern Europe on this point." 60.
LEAVING HOME – A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
"From at least the latter part of the Middle Ages until the second half of the nineteenth century or the early years of this century, it was common in rural England for young adults to leave their parental households to work as agricultural servants in other households for a prolonged period." 61.
"The history of home-leaving in the U.S. since 1880 largely reflects changes in social conventions, family relationships, and individual characteristics. During the Long First Half of the Twentieth Century, one of the most important factors in the rising age of home-leaving was declining adult mortality, which led to declining rates of orphanhood. High rates of immigration into the U.S. up until the 1920s also influenced the age at which young people left home, because young adults who immigrated by themselves during the peak years were necessarily away from the home of their parents. Finally, social change that led to decreased child labor and increased schooling in the first decades of the century led to later home leaving." Another element – parental life expectancy increased, so that involuntary home-leaving also went down. 62.
Therefore, in the U.S., from 1880 until 1940 for males and 1950 for females, the age at leaving home rose. The decline occurred during the 1950s and 1960s – with falling ages for marriage and men entering the military. The process continued with the instigation of the G.I. Bill and state-sponsored college educations, so that more people moved away from home to attend school. Then, beginning with 1970, the age of home-leaving began to rise again, reaching relatively high levels by 1990. 63.
| | |
