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Marriage isn’t going to be in Joey Rossiter’s future anytime soon. And that’s a growing trend among 20-somethings. He’s not looking for love.
A Pew Research Center study found that 1/3 of the singles age 18 to 29 have no romantic partners.
Rossiter works at a video store, and he’s single but doesn’t date much.
“When I work a 4 to 10 p.m. shift, the hours just don’t allow it,” said the 26-year-old Anderson resident. “If I date, it just happens. It’s not because I went out to find someone. I’m a late person. I work until 10, maybe stay up until 1 or 2 in the morning. I wake up at about noon. There’s just no time.”
The U.S. Census Bureau reports that the number of unmarried adults has risen from 28 percent in 1970 to 40 percent in 1996. The figure is even more striking for unmarried adults ages 25 to 29. In 1970 only 10 percent were unmarried and that number skyrocketed to 37 percent in 1996 — an indicator that people are staying single longer, choosing paths such as career and education over marriage.
It’s not that Rossiter puts career first, there’s no burning urge there, he said. He’s never considered himself a relationship kind of guy or thought much about developing a career.
The 2005 Pew survey showed that Rossiter is not along when it comes to dating. According to the survey, 49 percent of young singles had been on no more than one date in a three month period.
“I’ve never ruled marriage out,” Rossiter said. “I never used to think about marriage as a teenager. Then my parents split when I was 21. My sister got divorced. Suddenly I looked around and most of the people I know, I realized were divorced. It made me question the whole idea of marriage.”
He didn’t become as much jaded as he did cautious, he said, and believes he is the kind of person who can beat the odds and make a marriage work.
“If I meet the right person, if I get married, I want it to be the real deal.”
Lacey Butler-Call, 25, Anderson, said she’s been married only three months, yet keeps getting asked by her grandmother, when she is going to have a baby. Grandma has a surprise coming. Lacey and her husband James were engaged a year. Her grandmother thought they’d never get married.
“We made up our minds, kids won’t happen,” Lacy said. “We told (relatives) the dog (Beeohbee) will have to be their grandchild.”
Many of her friends, they decided to just live together and not get married. There’s no way that would work for her and James. The pressure to go to the alter is still there.
“I’m sure his mom and my mom would not appreciate it if we had just moved in together,” Lacey said.
Here is where Lacey and James are not like their peers. According to the US Census, the number of male-female couples opting to live together has doubled since 1990 — that’s a figure more than 100 times the 1970 numbers.
Unlike those surveyed by the Pew Center, she never really thought much about a career or getting married. She works in fast food for now, but knows she will have to decide on a career, or at least a better paying job.
Unlike older generations, the 20-somethings approach work as a means to live and it doesn’t define their life the way work did several generations ago.
Lacey said, “I’ll need a job eventually that pays a bit more to be able to keep the house and cars we have.”
At a glance...
To see the details of the Pew Research Center study, visit http://pewresearch.org. To view more statistics on marriage visit www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hh-fam.
Men and women are getting married later. Here’s the average age of people getting married for the first time.
Year Men Women
1950 22.8 20.3
1980 24.4 22
1990 26.1 24
1996 27.1 24.8
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