John Whitehead's Commentary
New Census Numbers Reveal a Free Agent Society
Recently released data from the 2000 Census reveals that, like free agents in baseball, Americans are keeping their options open to take advantage of the next big deal--whether it be a new job in another city or a new relationship. From a continuing decline in the nuclear family to a giant leap in unmarried partners, the numbers tell the story of a free agent society.
This past winter, Alex Rodriguez, a phenomenal shortstop and much-in-demand free agent, signed a quarter of a billion dollar contract to play baseball for the Texas Rangers. This gigantic deal was the culmination of the free agent era that began in 1972--when an outfielder named Curt Flood challenged the system under which baseball players were stuck with one team.
About the same time that Flood was challenging the traditional system in America's game, America itself was experiencing a free agency explosion at home. The nuclear family--mom, dad and kids--experienced its greatest free fall in history during the decade of the 1970s, as increasingly independent mothers and fathers began testing the "free agent market," the phenomenon sociologists described as a skyrocketing divorce rate.
This past year, as Rodriguez's contract signaled the apex of the free agent movement in sports, the 2000 Census noted a landmark in family free agency--for the first time, the nuclear family dropped below 25 percent of U.S. households. And for the first time, there are now more Americans living alone than there are married couples with children. Even those persons who choose to live with roommates increasingly choose not to live with relatives. And perhaps most notably, the number of unmarried partners living together rose a staggering 72 percent in the past decade.
Like free agency in sports, free agency in life has its upside. For instance, uncommitted employees can pour more of themselves into their work. Millions of unattached twenty and thirty-somethings have helped drive the New Economy, and job mobility has reached an all-time high.
Yet there is a significant downside. In baseball, old hands decry the new free agent world where the faces on the field can change completely from one year to the next. Young fans who pour their hearts into rooting for the hometown star find themselves left jaded when the star chases big dollars to the division rival. It's just business, they say, and thus no loyalty or commitments beyond the highest dollar amount.
In real life, it's easier to avoid making any ties in the first place. With no kids and no family ties, no one gets hurt when business or a new relationship calls. But the trade-off is the death of community. Without a sense of communal identity, there is no reason to look beyond one's needs to those of a neighbor's. Thus, we see record low voter turnouts and communities that struggle to get funding for such basics as repairing crumbling schools.
The fall-out from our free agent society isn't just political. Americans' commitment phobia has serious cultural effects, too. It's no wonder that our courts are backlogged with litigation--instead of learning to work through problems with others, our society has spent the last few decades ending relationships at the first sign of trouble or avoiding them altogether.
Is there a remedy to deal with the free agent problem, a kind of cultural salary cap to keep the communal foundations from crumbling altogether? The numbers suggest that people are starting to figure out that being free isn't all it's cracked up to be. The divorce rate has reached a plateau. Gen-Xers may have been skeptical about marriage to begin with--and one can't blame them, given their coming-of-age experiences in the Seventies. But studies suggest they're more willing to stick with it once they've made the leap.
However, there is another, more ominous, possibility: the divorce plateau may be the result of more people choosing to live together rather than committing to a long-term relationship cemented by marriage vows.
To reverse these trends will take real effort from all sectors. Government can start by offering flex-time programs for working parents who do not want to leave their children in day care. Corporate America should do the same. Schools, churches and synagogues also have a role to play. While the decades when the traditional family reigned weren't perfect, they did provide a model for the community that today's society sorely lacks.
Churches in particular, however, have to do more. In the so-called "Bible Belt" states where church attendance reaches 70 percent, the divorce rates are as much as 50 percent higher than those in other states. And the percentages of couples living together out of wedlock in these states grew at a much faster rate during the 1990s than in other parts of the country. Obviously, something has to change. It's not enough to assure young couples that somehow God will see them through the tough times. Rather, young people need to be equipped with the tools of communication and commitment that will enable them to work through the inevitable crises.
In the midst of what appears to be a dismal situation, there is hope. It is in those of us who care and will work to re-establish our families and communities. And most assuredly, it will take plenty of prayer and, above all, a commitment to the future. Simply put, our free agent society doesn't have to overwhelm the community building blocks of family and committed relationships that are so vital to the health of the country.
This past winter, Alex Rodriguez, a phenomenal shortstop and much-in-demand free agent, signed a quarter of a billion dollar contract to play baseball for the Texas Rangers. This gigantic deal was the culmination of the free agent era that began in 1972--when an outfielder named Curt Flood challenged the system under which baseball players were stuck with one team.
About the same time that Flood was challenging the traditional system in America's game, America itself was experiencing a free agency explosion at home. The nuclear family--mom, dad and kids--experienced its greatest free fall in history during the decade of the 1970s, as increasingly independent mothers and fathers began testing the "free agent market," the phenomenon sociologists described as a skyrocketing divorce rate.
This past year, as Rodriguez's contract signaled the apex of the free agent movement in sports, the 2000 Census noted a landmark in family free agency--for the first time, the nuclear family dropped below 25 percent of U.S. households. And for the first time, there are now more Americans living alone than there are married couples with children. Even those persons who choose to live with roommates increasingly choose not to live with relatives. And perhaps most notably, the number of unmarried partners living together rose a staggering 72 percent in the past decade.
Like free agency in sports, free agency in life has its upside. For instance, uncommitted employees can pour more of themselves into their work. Millions of unattached twenty and thirty-somethings have helped drive the New Economy, and job mobility has reached an all-time high.
Yet there is a significant downside. In baseball, old hands decry the new free agent world where the faces on the field can change completely from one year to the next. Young fans who pour their hearts into rooting for the hometown star find themselves left jaded when the star chases big dollars to the division rival. It's just business, they say, and thus no loyalty or commitments beyond the highest dollar amount.
In real life, it's easier to avoid making any ties in the first place. With no kids and no family ties, no one gets hurt when business or a new relationship calls. But the trade-off is the death of community. Without a sense of communal identity, there is no reason to look beyond one's needs to those of a neighbor's. Thus, we see record low voter turnouts and communities that struggle to get funding for such basics as repairing crumbling schools.
The fall-out from our free agent society isn't just political. Americans' commitment phobia has serious cultural effects, too. It's no wonder that our courts are backlogged with litigation--instead of learning to work through problems with others, our society has spent the last few decades ending relationships at the first sign of trouble or avoiding them altogether.
Is there a remedy to deal with the free agent problem, a kind of cultural salary cap to keep the communal foundations from crumbling altogether? The numbers suggest that people are starting to figure out that being free isn't all it's cracked up to be. The divorce rate has reached a plateau. Gen-Xers may have been skeptical about marriage to begin with--and one can't blame them, given their coming-of-age experiences in the Seventies. But studies suggest they're more willing to stick with it once they've made the leap.
However, there is another, more ominous, possibility: the divorce plateau may be the result of more people choosing to live together rather than committing to a long-term relationship cemented by marriage vows.
To reverse these trends will take real effort from all sectors. Government can start by offering flex-time programs for working parents who do not want to leave their children in day care. Corporate America should do the same. Schools, churches and synagogues also have a role to play. While the decades when the traditional family reigned weren't perfect, they did provide a model for the community that today's society sorely lacks.
Churches in particular, however, have to do more. In the so-called "Bible Belt" states where church attendance reaches 70 percent, the divorce rates are as much as 50 percent higher than those in other states. And the percentages of couples living together out of wedlock in these states grew at a much faster rate during the 1990s than in other parts of the country. Obviously, something has to change. It's not enough to assure young couples that somehow God will see them through the tough times. Rather, young people need to be equipped with the tools of communication and commitment that will enable them to work through the inevitable crises.
In the midst of what appears to be a dismal situation, there is hope. It is in those of us who care and will work to re-establish our families and communities. And most assuredly, it will take plenty of prayer and, above all, a commitment to the future. Simply put, our free agent society doesn't have to overwhelm the community building blocks of family and committed relationships that are so vital to the health of the country.
ABOUT JOHN W. WHITEHEAD
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. His most recent books are the best-selling Battlefield America: The War on the American People, the award-winning A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, and a debut dystopian fiction novel, The Erik Blair Diaries. Whitehead can be contacted at staff@rutherford.org. Nisha Whitehead is the Executive Director of The Rutherford Institute. Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at www.rutherford.org.
Publication Guidelines / Reprint Permission
John W. Whitehead’s weekly commentaries are available for publication to newspapers and web publications at no charge. Please contact staff@rutherford.org to obtain reprint permission.
