Says David Brooks in the NYT:
"The reality is that we have a generation of kids who have seen the ravages of divorce, who are more likely to respect and listen to their parents and their ministers, who are worried about sexually transmitted diseases and who don't want to mess up their careers."
Brooks seems to want to declare victory for the conservatives in the Culture Wars....
But it's really the declining economy that is causing many young people to put off sex and marriage......
This is quite common in periods of economic decline when the younger generation feels they have little hope of finding a job that can support a family.
During the Great Depression of 1873 to 1893.....persons opting for the single life abounded.....
Combine our moribund economy with "women's lib" which allowed wives to support their husbands.....and through in a sexually transmitted disease scenario that is almost medieval in it's ability to scare people.....and you have a lower birth rate and.....likely fewer abortions.
Recessions and depressions are good for the "public morals" according to conservatives.....
