veD = SCIENCES OF
CREATION AND LIFE
SAYS:
gRUHs`TH-aaSRm MUST START WHEN
YOUTH OF bRH`mchaaARy-aaSRm ENDS
ON COMPLETING STUDIES
TO BE GAINFULLY EMPLOYED...
BUT DISCOVERY SAYS NOT IN THIS kli-yug...
PVAF is concluding this week YOUTH CELEBRATION
of serial on YOUTH PAGE....with a
profound discovery that the youths of this generation are postponing as much as
they can becoming contributing adults in the family and society they live
in.......
...WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THIS
GENERATION OF YOUTH?
WHO ARE HAVING 100 TIMES MORE
THAN THEIR PARENTS DID TO GROW UP
.....demographers have begun to label even those
as old as 35 "adolescents" and "youths.....?????"
Prof. Beaujot said that some analysts believe that the extended
period between childhood and adulthood is positive and efficient, giving people
more time to invest in themselves and find out what they want..... The trend,
which started in the mid-1960s and has deepened since, means that the fertility
rate and the age structure of the nation have been affected in ways that society
has failed to take into account, said Roderic Beaujot, a demographer at the
University of Western Ontario. He is author of the research paper Delayed Life
Transitions: Trends and Implications, published yesterday by the Vanier
Institute of the Family.....
To know about this alarming and profound discovery about the
recent generations of youth please visit Canadian
Globe and Mail
by clicking on the preceding red hilite or read on this
LIFE BASED KNOWLEDGE GIVING PVAF WEB
SITE by clicking on the next line.....
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Generation that won't grow
up:
Young people postpone
leaving home, starting family, to focus on their careers
By ALANNA MITCHELL
Canadian
Globe and Mail: Tuesday, May 11, 2004 - Page A6
Call it the generation with the longest adolescence in Canadian history. So
far.
Today's young people are so slow to reach so many of the traditional rites of
adulthood that demographers have begun to label even those as old as 35
"adolescents" and "youths."
These rites include leaving home, getting a stable job, having a long-term
relationship and having a child. It's happening mostly because both men and
women are spending much larger amounts of time and money on schooling and on
becoming professionally established.
The trend, which started in the mid-1960s and has deepened since, means that the
fertility rate and the age structure of the nation have been affected in ways
that society has failed to take into account, said Roderic Beaujot, a
demographer at the University of Western Ontario. He is author of the research
paper Delayed Life Transitions: Trends and Implications, published yesterday by
the Vanier Institute of the Family.
"The structure of the population has never been like this," he said.
He pointed to the fact that in 1981, 27.5 per cent of people in their 20s were
living at home. By 2001, that was 41.1 per cent.
In the early 1970s, the average age at first marriage was 21 for women and 23
for men. By 2001, it was 26 and 28.
In 1976, the average age of a woman when her first child was born was 23.4. By
2001, it was 27.6. These are astonishing changes over that time period, said
Alan Mirabelli of the Vanier Institute.
The problem in purely economic terms is that as Canadians delay earning money
and having children, some become unable to bear children at all. Or they end up
unable to have as many children as they would like.
This phenomenon already is significant enough to have played a part in Canada's
declining fertility rate, which is well below the level needed to replace the
population. It is not, however, as low as the levels in some European countries.
For example, a separate study by Statistics Canada showed that the number of
Canadians aged 5 to 13 will drop 14 per cent between 2001 and 2011 because fewer
babies are being born.
That, in turn, means that the population has more old people in comparison to
young people. And that means fewer workers to support an aging population.
At the same time, Canadians are expecting to retire earlier, Prof. Beaujot said,
which means that the time for working is shrinking at both ends.
"With low starting salaries, and lowered work hours associated with
childbearing, many are not into their prime productive ages until well after age
35," he writes. "The median age of retirement has moved in the opposite
direction, to about age 62."
Barbara Pennock, 26, is still living rent-free with her parents, four years
after she finished a diploma in aviation management. She's worked full-time at
the Greater Toronto Airport Authority since she graduated, but she doesn't know
when she might strike out on her own.
She estimates that 80 to 90 per cent of her friends also live with their
parents. "It's almost like everyone's starting adulthood older," she said.
For now, she's concentrating on paying down debts from school while she
contemplates further education. And she has no plans to marry.
"I guess school has always been in the back of my mind," she said. "I feel I
need to go back."
Jennifer Semple, 32, moved out of her parents' last fall when she bought a home
in Newmarket, Ont. She has lived on her own for years at a time since getting
her degree in 1994. But she has also lived periodically with her parents and
paid them rent.
She would like to marry and have children but can't predict when that will
happen. A strategic consultant for non-profit organizations, she has poured
energy into her career.
Her parents, on the other hand, married at 22 and were finished having their
children at 28. They are now 60. She says she believes that the changes from one
generation to the next are mostly the result of women having more choices,
attending university and learning to think critically about their roles.
"Our generation grew up hearing that we could do everything we wanted," she
said. "It's just that we can't do it all at the same time."
Prof. Beaujot said that some analysts believe that the
extended period between childhood and adulthood is positive and efficient,
giving people more time to invest in themselves and find out what they want.
Others say that the long periods of education amount to placing young talent in
a "holding tank" of those who are ready to participate in the adult world but
are prevented from taking their place in society.
Still others say that coming generations will solve the problems by relying on
technology to help women have children far into their 40s. Another school of
thought suggests bumping up levels of immigration to bulk up Canada's population
numbers.
Prof. Beaujot added that if policymakers want to stop or reverse the trend, one
mechanism would be to invest in education so that graduates have fewer debts and
can establish themselves professionally and personally earlier.
He said there's no hint of where the trend is headed.
"I think maybe the trend has slowed down, but we don't see a cap," he said.
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