Millenials Redefine U.S. Households

The landscape of a typical American household is quickly shifting, and as the early-Millenial generation nears their forties, new data suggests they’re pushing back against traditional nuclear family life.

In a survey from the Pew Research Center, more than four-in-ten Millenials do not live with a family of their own. As defined by Pew, living with a family includes living with a spouse, child or children, or both. At a comparable age, previous generations were far ahead in starting families, with over two-thirds of both Gen X and Boomer generations starting families between the ages of 23-38 and 85 percent of the Silent generation.

The survey also shows that more than half of current Millenials aren’t married, and those that are got married later in their life when compared to previous generations. Still, the data shows that Millenials are much more likely than previous generations to be living with a romantic partner. The generation before Millenials, Gen X, saw 53 percent married between the ages of 23-38 compared to 44 percent of Millenials. However, 12 percent of Millenials were cohabiting with a partner compared to 8 percent of those in Gen X.

Other interesting data from the survey shows Millenial women are giving birth later than previous generations, and single Millenial fathers are also much more prevalent than in previous generations.