One of the benefits of making 1100 birthday calls per year is that you gather some interesting data over a respectable size population.
I haven’t done the full analysis of the average age of the people I call, but let’s say, for arguments sake, that the mean is roughly mid-30s.
This past few months, I’ve noticed a disproportionately large number of people in two categories.
- people getting divorced
- people disillusioned with their careers and looking for “major change.”
Is the mid-life crisis coming on earlier?
Paco had a playdate the other day and I was chatting with the mother, whose parents got divorced a few years ago in their mid 60s. This came on the heels of a couple I know who, in their 50s, have decided to get divorced as well.
She mentioned that her husband was speculating that this would become more and more common in the years to come.
The stigma of divorce is certainly gone and perhaps, with changing perspectives on marriage, people will become more and more likely to view life partners not as “forever,” but as segment-appropriate. She focused on the “me-ness” of the Boomer Generation, but you could also touch on (see yesterday’s post) the ability for people to live on their own (provided they have money or some security) and for women to not necessarily need men.
So, do you envision a day when people have one partner for the no-kids stage, another for having/raising kids, and another for “golden years?”
Will we start having marriages that have "planned obsolescence" as part of their founding philosophy?