Unmarried Baby Boomers Are “Living In Sin,” Happily

Remember the generation gap?

Perhaps you don’t, so passé has the notion become. But allow me to refresh your memory. The generation gap is the idea that as one generation comes of age, shamelessly shimmying its miniskirt and breaking cultural taboos, it will naturally come into conflict with the generation that came before it, whose members are settling into the calm but turgid embrace of social conservatism, the logical conclusion of old age. In other words: Youth equals progress and old age demands adherence to social convention. ’Twas ever thus, yes?

Not any more. Ironically enough, it seems the same demographic cohort that invented the very notion of the generation gap is now determined to do away with it – at least as far as long-term relationships are concerned.

According to a recent report by the U.S. Pew Research Center, a growing number of older people (i.e., those in the so-called “baby boomer” generation) are opting to live together instead of getting married. While the marriage rate is dropping across the board, the aging boomers lead the pack in choosing cohabitation and, in 2016, four million U.S. adults ages 50 and older were cohabiting – up from 2.3 million in 2007.

Here in Canada, the trend also holds true, though the data is less current. According to the most recent census, from 2011, there was a small but significant increase in the number of Canadians between the ages of 50 and 59 choosing to cohabit long-term instead of marry.

Read more at The Globe And Mail.