The coronavirus pandemic made things worse, but researchers were already seeing danger signs, noted San Diego State psychology professor Jean Twenge, in a recent Institute for Family Studies essay. She is the author of the book “iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy — and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood — and What That Means for the Rest of Us.”
“Something began to go wrong in the lives of teens about 10 years ago,” she noted. “At first, I had no idea why teen depression was increasing so much. … But then I noticed some big trends in teens’ social lives: They were spending less time with their friends in-person, and more time online. That tends not to be a good formula for mental health, especially among girls and especially when that online time is spent on social media.”
Meanwhile, a Pew Research Center study found that most single U.S. adults, even before the coronavirus, were depressed about dating and building relationship. This past February, 70% of those surveyed said “their dating lives are not going well.”
The survey summary noted: “A majority of single Americans overall are off the dating market — 56% say they are not currently looking for a relationship or casual dates, up slightly from 50% in 2019. Among the 44% who are currently looking, 32% say they are looking only for a committed relationship, 16% are looking only for casual dates, and about half are open to either a relationship or dates.”
It’s logical to link these numbers with U.S. birth rates, which have been falling for more than a decade. During the pandemic, the fertility rate experienced its largest single-year fall in 50 years, to 1.6 per women, then rebounded slightly to 1.7 in 2021 — well below the population replacement rate of 2.1 children per woman.
These trends should be of special concern to clergy, since religious faith plays a pivotal role in deciding who gets married and who does not, according to Brian Willoughby of the Brigham Young University School of Family Life.
