Some Social & Economic Trends: Teen drivers, Gun Owndership By Party Membership, Couples Without Children, Senior Citizens Working and Cancer Death Rates

See Fewer Teens Want to Drive. It’s Changing How They Spend: Young drivers point to high prices for cars and insurance, combined with other viable options, from public transportation to rides from Mom and Dad by Margot Amouyal of The WSJ. Excerpt:

"The percentage of 19-year-olds with a driver’s license dropped steadily from 87.3% in 1983 to 68.7% in 2022, according to most recent data from the Federal Highway Administration."

See The Most Surprising New Gun Owners Are U.S. Liberals: After decades of decline, gun ownership is rising among Democrats by Cameron McWhirter and Zusha Elinson of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"Twenty-nine percent of Democrats or those leaning Democrat said they had a gun at home in 2022, up from a four-decade low of 22% in 2010"

"In 2022, 55% of Republicans had a gun in their home, up 3 percentage points since 2010"

"Among Democratic gun buyers since 2020, more than half were first-time owners"

"Women accounted for nearly half of new gun buyers from 2019 to 2021"

See Why Americans Aren’t Having Babies: The costs and rising expectations of parenthood are making young people think hard about having any children at all by Rachel Wolfe of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"Women without children, rather than those having fewer, are responsible for most of the decline in average births among 35- to 44-year-olds during their lifetimes so far"

"Childlessness accounted for over two-thirds of the 6.5% drop in average births between 2012 to 2022."

"The number of American women over 40 who had no children was declining until 2018, according to Current Population Survey data, when it then began to rise again."

"44% of childless adults ages 18 to 49 said they were not too likely, or not at all likely, to have children, up from 37% who said the same thing in 2018."

"As more women gained access to birth control and entered the workforce in the 1970s, reshaping family life and expectations around gender, Americans began having fewer kids. By 1980, the average number of children per family was 1.8, down from a high of 3.6 during the post-Depression baby boom"

"younger Americans view kids as one of many elements that can create a meaningful life. Weighed against other personal and professional ambitions, the investments of child-rearing don’t always land in children’s favor."

"Middle-class households with a preschooler more than quadrupled spending on child care alone between 1995 and 2023"

"only about half of the increase is due to rising prices for the same quality and quantity of care." 

"The remaining half is coming from parents choosing more personalized or accredited care for a given 3- to 5-year-old"

 

See America Has Never Had So Many 65-Year-Olds. They’re Redefining the Milestone: A record number of people will turn 65 this year. Here’s how they are distinct from their predecessors by Clare Ansberry of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"Nearly 20% of Americans 65 and older were employed in 2023, which is nearly double the share of those who were working 35 years ago"

"Close to two-thirds of 65 and older employees are working full time, compared with nearly half in 1987"

"They’re earning more, too, with average hourly pay reaching $22 an hour in 2023, up from $13 an hour in inflation adjusted dollars in 1987"

"the median net worth of those 65 to 74 was $410,000 in 2022, up from $282,270 in 2010 in inflation-adjusted 2022 dollars"

See Many Cancers Are on the Rise in the U.S., Even as Overall Deaths Fall: Increases and disparities threaten progress made over the past three decades by Brianna Abbott of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"Cancer death rates in the U.S. have dropped by a third from a peak in 1991 to 2021, thanks to declines in smoking, earlier detection and better treatments. Lung cancer is the greatest driver of the trend, with deaths dropping sharply in the past few decades, even as the disease remains the biggest cancer killer in the U.S. by far."

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