In the European Union (EU), more than one third (35.3%) of males aged 25 to 34 were still living with their parents in 2017, compared with only one fifth (21.7%) of females in the same age group. On average, around one young adult in four (28.5%) still lives in the parental home.
International Family Day highlights the importance of families as a basic unit of society. May 15 was decided to be celebrated as International Family Day by the United Nations General Assembly in 1993. The theme for International Day of Families 2019 is “Families and Climate Action: Focus on SDG13”.
Bryan Caplan is an economist and a dad who has thought a lot about the joys and stresses of being a parent. When I asked him whether there is an ideal number of children to have, from the perspective of parents’ well-being, he gave a perfectly sensible response: “I’m tempted to start with the evasive economist answer of ‘Well, there’s an optimal number given your preferences.’”
When Louise McSharry was pregnant with her first son Sam, now two-and-a-half years old, she had certain assumptions about what motherhood would be like. “I thought that overnight I would become this patient and benevolent creature, who would never use a harsh word and who would never be frustrated, and that all of my selfishness would go away.”
Germany’s health minister has proposed a fine of up to 2,500 euros, or about $2,800, for parents who refuse to immunize their school-age children against measles, part of efforts to combat a disease that has surged after decades of decline.
Whether or not Millennials are doing marriage differently, they’re certainly changing other parts of courtship. Unmarried couples are more likely to cohabit than they were a decade ago, and the once-fringe online-dating scene has become as mainstream as dinner and a movie.