One of the main reasons why young people abandon the family - they did not see a positive example of family relations in childhood. This trend is very common among the so-called millennials - Generation Y, born between 1981 and 2000.
People who consciously abandon the family in the future begin to move away from this landmark from childhood. For them, family is not a guideline to which one can and should strive. For such people, psychologists have even come up with a special term - singleton (from English single - “lonely”).
The first loners began to call social psychologist Bella De Paulo. By the way, she herself professes such a way of life. The psychologist recalled that she had once dreamed of a wedding, but in the end she realized that she did not need it. Ms. De Paulo has been living on her own for more than 70 years, and this, apart from stereotypes on the part of society, does not interfere with her at all. On the contrary, she can devote more time to work and her research.
Interestingly, even in Islamic countries, women begin to give preference to education and career, rather than family and children. They choose a career and even wear fake rings to avoid unnecessary questions. And if training, career is the usual norm for Americans or Europeans, then the Muslim world is only beginning to encounter this phenomenon.
Singleton, choosing the path of loneliness, live only for themselves, engage in creativity, travel. They do not have anchors to hold them somewhere. But some psychologists see this as the egoism and emotional immaturity that is inherent in adolescents. Marriage requires compromise and responsibility for their actions. By the way, for the reluctance to create families (and increase the age threshold of the first marriage), scientists propose to reconsider the definition of adolescence and extend it to 24 years.
Economists say singleton are the killers of the economy. They spend earned money exclusively on themselves and buy fewer things. Loners do not give birth to children, therefore the financial burden increases for young people who work, because they support the older generation by their contributions to the budget. At the same time, the number of singleton increases during the economic crisis.
It will only get worse. Scientists from Harvard say that in the United States by 2030 there will be about 45% of single people, in Japan this figure will exceed 50%.
The forecasts are disappointing - we are confidently turning into a society of loners. Plato wrote that before people were different, they had four arms, four legs and two faces. But the gods decided that such powerful creatures could throw them off Olympus and split people in half, creating men and women. According to legend, people have since been looking for their soul mate in order to become strong again. Therefore, the survival of our species, as before, depends on cohesion.