The Family's Enduring Supremacy: City Planners Need to Abandon False Perceptions of Modern Marriage and Family Says Expert
"This new generation is twice as numerous as Generation X, and far more family-oriented. They display markedly less proclivity for teen pregnancy, abortion and juvenile crime. They also tend to have more favorable relations with their parents, with half staying in daily touch and almost all in weekly contact...It's time to recognize that today, as has been the case for millennia, families provide the most reliable foundation for successful economies."
(California)—Writing for the Wall Street Journal, Chapman University Residential Fellow, Joel Kotkin, asserts that despite the modern assault on families through divorce, broken homes, etc., families provide the most reliable foundation for successful economies. As such, leaders need to take notice.
Kotkin uses city planners as examples, saying that for the last decade they have projected the future based on their perception of "yuspies" —young urban single professionals. The problem is, such endeavors have not proven to be successful. Why? Because, for example, contrary to those who claimed marriage was on the "verge of extinction," the opposite holds true. Indeed, Brookings demographer Bill Frey is quoted as saying that the number of married couples with children has actually been on the rise after decades of decline.
Notes Kotkin: "The family's enduring supremacy is also apparent in the attitudes of young people, the so-called millennials. As Morley Winograd and Michael Hais suggest in their upcoming book, 'Millennial Mainstream,' this new generation is twice as numerous as Generation X, and far more family-oriented. They display markedly less proclivity for teen pregnancy, abortion and juvenile crime. They also tend to have more favorable relations with their parents, with half staying in daily touch and almost all in weekly contact."
In conclusion, Kotkin believes that developers must look at urban centers with a child-friendly eye toward raising healthy families. "Such a shift in emphasis could mark a new beginning for many long-neglected urban neighborhoods across the country," he notes. "It's time to recognize that today, as has been the case for millennia, families provide the most reliable foundation for successful economies."
