Living with parents has reduced and the graph of marriage in youth has also fallen… These changes have come in the last 5 decades in America of 250 years.

America is completing 250 years of its independence this year. But if one wants to understand how much this country has changed in the last 50 years, just looking at tall buildings, new technology or a big economy is not enough. In these five decades, there have been major changes in America’s population, family, education, jobs and the way people live. Today’s America looks completely different from the America of the 1970s. On one hand the country has become more diverse than before, while on the other hand the number of people getting married has decreased, the elderly population has increased and the middle class has become smaller than before.

Recently, Pew Research Center has released a report on the occasion of America’s 250th independence year. In this, government data from 1970 to 2024 has been analyzed. According to the report, in the last 50 years the population of America has increased by about 12 crores to about 34 crores. The number of people coming from abroad has also increased continuously, due to which America has become more multicultural than before, i.e. a country of people with different cultures.

Family structures have changed

It has been said in the report that the biggest change has been seen in families. In 1970, about 82 percent of children lived with their married parents, but by 2024 this figure will drop to 63%. This means that now more children than before are living in single parent or other family structures. Along with this, the trend of marrying at an early age among the youth has also continuously decreased. People are giving priority to career, education and financial stability first and then deciding on marriage.

Marriage graph also fell

Compared to 1970, today the number of people aged 50 years and above who have never married has increased slightly. The biggest change was seen in the black community, where the share of people aged 50 years and above who are never going to marry has almost tripled. The average number of times women give birth to children in America has decreased compared to before. 50 years ago, a woman had an average of about 3 children, whereas since 1990 this number has remained around 2 children.

growth in education

America’s population is also aging rapidly. In 1970, the share of people aged 65 years and above was about 10%, which has now increased to 18%. That means the number of elderly people in the country is continuously increasing. A large number of people are leaving the north-eastern states and settling in the southern and western states. If we talk about the field of education, there has been a big change in it also. In 1970, only 11% of American adults had a bachelor’s degree, whereas now this figure has increased to 37%. The special thing is that the participation of women in this has increased more than before.