Andrew Cherlin's Demographic Trends

In Andrew Cherlin’s “Demographic Trends in the United States: A Review of Research in the 2000s”, there are various topics discussed regarding why the structure of family life is changing. The topics that were used for research were Marriage, Divorce, Fertility, Cohabitation, Same-sex unions, Children’s living arrangements, living apart together, early adulthood, immigration, and aging. Throughout the years there have been obvious changes in the previously presented topics that would lead to different patterns of family life structures. There was once a linear progression that everyone followed, and it just doesn’t seem to be the same anymore. Deviations that appear in ones path lead to their conventional life cycle running differently. There were a few of the discussed topics that had a huge impact on the research that was being conducted.
It turned out that statistically those with a college education were more likely to ever marry than are the less educated, even though they delay marriage. This leads to the concept that one’s education has become more important since it’s becoming a determining factor on when someone decides they are ready for that step in their life. Personally, I can see how this has happened because as a college student myself I know that I wouldn’t want to get married until I have my own life put together. Once I graduate, and have a few years invested in a career I know is right, I’ll be ready to settle down and raise a family. A lot of the people in my generation are being pushed to finish their education in order to be somebody in the future; therefore I’m not surprised that it has become a reason as to why the family structures are being