Millennials are less likely to live with a family of their own than previous generations according to a new study. As Millennials reach a new stage of life the oldest among them will turn 39 this year – a clearer picture of how members of this generation
Previous research highlights not only the sheer size of the Millennial generation, which now surpasses Baby Boomers as the largest but also its racial and ethnic diversity and high rates of educational attainment. This research also notes that Millennials have been slower than previous generations to establish their own households.
A new analysis of government data by Pew Research Center shows that Millennials are taking a different path in forming – or not forming – families. Millennials trail previous generations at the same age across three typical measures of family life: living in a family unit, marriage rates and birth rates.
Living with a family is defined here as living with a spouse, one’s own child (or children) or both a spouse and child. Using this definition, Millennials are much less likely to be living with a family of their own than previous generations when they were the same age. In 2019, 55% of Millennials lived in this type of family unit. This compares with 66% of Gen Xers in 2003, 69% of Boomers in 1987 and 85% of members of the Silent Generation in 1968.
Millennials lag furthest behind in the share living with a spouse and child. Only three-in-ten Millennials fell into this category in 2019, compared with 40% of Gen Xers, 46% of Boomers and 70% of Silents when they were the age Millennials are now. At the same time, the share of Millennials who live with a spouse and no child is comparable to previous generations (13%), while the share living with a child but no spouse (12%) is the same as Gen X but higher than Boomers and Silents.
Among Millennials, there are significant differences in the share living in a family of their own by race, ethnicity and educational attainment. Black Millennials are the least likely to live in a family – 46% do, compared with 57% of white and Hispanic Millennials and 54% of Asians. Black Millennials are more likely than other groups to live with a child and no spouse (22%, compared with 16% of Hispanic, 9% of white and 4% of Asian Millennials).
More than half of Millennials are not married, and those who are got married later in life
A majority of Millennials are not currently married, marking a significant change from past generations. Only 44% of Millennials were married in 2019, compared with 53% of Gen Xers, 61% of Boomers and 81% of Silents at a comparable age.
What does marriage look like for Millennials who have tied the knot? They are getting married later in life than previous generations. The median age at first marriage has edged up gradually in recent decades. In 2019, the average man first got married at age 30, and the average woman was 28 when she first wed. This is three years later – for both men and women – than in 2003, four years later than in 1987 and seven years later than in 1968.
Black Millennials are far less likely to be married than Millennials in other racial and ethnic groups: 24% compared with 51% of Asian, 48% of white and 42% of Hispanic Millennials. This racial and ethnic pattern is similar for older generations, but the gap between black adults and other groups has widened since 1968.
Half of all Millennials with a bachelor’s degree or more education are married, which is higher than the share among those with less education. The largest gap emerges when comparing the shares of Millennials with a bachelor’s degree (50%) and those with a high school education (38%) who are married. There’s a 10-point gap in the share married between those with a bachelor’s degree and those with some college education (40%). Some 42% of Millennials with less than a high school education are married.
The education gap in marriage, which has been growing over time, is wider for Millennials than it has been in previous generations. Overall, marriage rates have declined since 1970, and the sharpest declines have been amongst the least educated adults.
Millennials are more likely than previous generations to marry someone with the same level of education as them
More than half of Millennial women have given birth; they are older than previous generations when they do
About one-in-five Millennial men residing with their own child or children are unmarried. This is significantly higher than the shares for previous generations: 15% of Gen X fathers, 4% of Boomer fathers and 1% of dads in the Silent Generation were unmarried at a comparable age.