A Chance for Generation Unbound
She still thinks so. "Marriage is beneficial," Sawhill writes. "But when marriage has virtually collapsed among so many members of the youngest generation, the fact that it is still alive and well for the elites does not leave much room for optimism."
Consequently, the more effective argument to sexually active 20-somethings is not to hurry up marriage -- it's to slow down the decision to have a child.
Which leads to the second point: There is a relatively easy and inexpensive (compared to child-bearing) technological solution at hand.
The most popular contraceptive methods have high failure rates, due more to misuse (or non-use) than to product shortcomings. Thus, 18 percent of condom users and 9 percent of those who take birth control pills will become unintentionally pregnant in the course of a year.
The smarter alternative is encouraging young women to switch to LARCs -- long-acting reversible contraceptives such as IUDs, which can remain in place for as long as 12 years, or implantable birth-control, which can last for three years.
The insights of behavioral economics are at work here: To achieve the desired outcome, switch the default, from having to take active steps to prevent pregnancy to having to take action to achieve it. These methods, Sawhill writes, "are forgiving of human frailty."
Government can't and shouldn't force young women to use LARCs. It can -- thank you, Affordable Care Act -- make them readily and affordably available. Turning drifters into planners, in Sawhill's phrase, would not only be far better for Generation Unbound. It would give their wanted children the opportunity they deserve.
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Ruth Marcus' email address is ruthmarcus@washpost.com.
Copyright 2014 Washington Post Writers Group
