Milestones: journeying through adulthood
December 17, 2019 5:55 AM Subscribe
A blog post from the Office of National Statistics about the ages at which life events happen for adults: women having their second child, highest earning period, divorce, providing unpaid care, becoming a grandparent, stopping working, and greatest happiness period.
Those income curves were depressing to look at.
posted by Dip Flash at 7:39 AM on December 17, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Dip Flash at 7:39 AM on December 17, 2019 [3 favorites]
Well, apparently I wasted my highest earning year because it was my articling year and I got paid shit.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:40 AM on December 17, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by jacquilynne at 7:40 AM on December 17, 2019 [2 favorites]
This still seems... suspect. I was 33 when my second kid was born. I am by far the youngest person I know with two kids. I'm also struggling to figure out how earnings peak at 41. Is that the point where ageism starts to catch up with most folks? The age where most people stop working full time? Neither of those squares with anything I've seen, and while my experiences trend white-collar, I don't know of an industry offhand where people with 20+ years of experience are making less than their younger contemporaries.
posted by Mayor West at 7:42 AM on December 17, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Mayor West at 7:42 AM on December 17, 2019 [3 favorites]
I see the income thing is confusing people, but it is explained in the article. People who have made the most money can either retire early or work less. People who didn't make enough money to retire or work less have to keep working.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 7:48 AM on December 17, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 7:48 AM on December 17, 2019 [4 favorites]
I'm peaking on earnings and misery. I wonder if there is a connection?
posted by biffa at 8:01 AM on December 17, 2019
posted by biffa at 8:01 AM on December 17, 2019
Mayor West: This is UK data, which might make a difference. But the first article in the series gives the average age of mothers at first birth as 29. A quick Google suggests it's 27 or 28 in the US (and sources vary). So I'd assume the age at which people have a second child would be lower in the US as well.
But when people have kids is correlated with social class. At the very least it varies by education.
(Anecdata: I'm 36, my partner is 35, my kid is 1, and it seems like all the people I know who are having their first kids are younger than me. We also seem to be the old parents at daycare.)
posted by madcaptenor at 8:12 AM on December 17, 2019 [2 favorites]
But when people have kids is correlated with social class. At the very least it varies by education.
(Anecdata: I'm 36, my partner is 35, my kid is 1, and it seems like all the people I know who are having their first kids are younger than me. We also seem to be the old parents at daycare.)
posted by madcaptenor at 8:12 AM on December 17, 2019 [2 favorites]
This still seems... suspect. I was 33 when my second kid was born. I am by far the youngest person I know with two kids.
You are not in the UK, and even if you were, the data include many families who are very, very far from your social circle.
I'm also struggling to figure out how earnings peak at 41.
The explanation they offer for the decline is that better-off people start retiring (though prob not at 41), while poor people keep working until they die.
Neither of those squares with anything I've seen, and while my experiences trend white-collar, I don't know of an industry offhand where people with 20+ years of experience are making less than their younger contemporaries.
You're thinking of aggregating individual income histories. This isn't doing that. It's looking at what age bracket has the highest median income -- the text is quite clear about this -- which isn't the same thing. It's entirely possible for the average or median age of highest income to be in the 50s while the age with the highest median income is in the 40s, as is here.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 8:13 AM on December 17, 2019 [7 favorites]
You are not in the UK, and even if you were, the data include many families who are very, very far from your social circle.
I'm also struggling to figure out how earnings peak at 41.
The explanation they offer for the decline is that better-off people start retiring (though prob not at 41), while poor people keep working until they die.
Neither of those squares with anything I've seen, and while my experiences trend white-collar, I don't know of an industry offhand where people with 20+ years of experience are making less than their younger contemporaries.
You're thinking of aggregating individual income histories. This isn't doing that. It's looking at what age bracket has the highest median income -- the text is quite clear about this -- which isn't the same thing. It's entirely possible for the average or median age of highest income to be in the 50s while the age with the highest median income is in the 40s, as is here.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 8:13 AM on December 17, 2019 [7 favorites]
Fascinating how much happier everyone gets the minute they retire...!
posted by penguin pie at 8:35 AM on December 17, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by penguin pie at 8:35 AM on December 17, 2019 [3 favorites]
...the data include many families who are very, very far from your social circle.
I'm beginning to believe that this needs to be printed in large bolded type at the top and bottom of every page of any study based on population-level statistics. In the US at least, it doesn't matter who or where you are, your experience of the world is not representative.
posted by mattwan at 8:54 AM on December 17, 2019 [8 favorites]
I'm beginning to believe that this needs to be printed in large bolded type at the top and bottom of every page of any study based on population-level statistics. In the US at least, it doesn't matter who or where you are, your experience of the world is not representative.
posted by mattwan at 8:54 AM on December 17, 2019 [8 favorites]
the data include many families who are very, very far from your social circle.
Your point is well taken. I knew I'm a bougie white guy, but I guess I underestimated how many SDUs of bougie white guy I am.
posted by Mayor West at 9:23 AM on December 17, 2019
Your point is well taken. I knew I'm a bougie white guy, but I guess I underestimated how many SDUs of bougie white guy I am.
posted by Mayor West at 9:23 AM on December 17, 2019
I'm also struggling to figure out how earnings peak at 41. Is that the point where ageism starts to catch up with most folks? The age where most people stop working full time? Neither of those squares with anything I've seen, and while my experiences trend white-collar, I don't know of an industry offhand where people with 20+ years of experience are making less than their younger contemporaries.
Because starting in their 40's (and in some industries, their 30's) people start to make $0 per year, because they are retired.
My larger org at work has lots and lots of "alumni" that will/have never worked a day in their 50's onward
posted by sideshow at 9:28 AM on December 17, 2019
Because starting in their 40's (and in some industries, their 30's) people start to make $0 per year, because they are retired.
My larger org at work has lots and lots of "alumni" that will/have never worked a day in their 50's onward
posted by sideshow at 9:28 AM on December 17, 2019
Lucky people have made enough money to start working less at 41, and unlucky people have accumulated enough physical damage that they have to start working less.
posted by clew at 10:05 AM on December 17, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by clew at 10:05 AM on December 17, 2019 [1 favorite]
"Peak Happiness" comes right after "Stopping Work"? Yeah, that tracks.
posted by Galaxor Nebulon at 11:01 AM on December 17, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Galaxor Nebulon at 11:01 AM on December 17, 2019 [2 favorites]
Fascinating how much happier everyone gets the minute they retire...!
I don't know if I got any happier, but my stress level bottomed out. (At least until Christmas rolls around each year.)
posted by MtDewd at 11:03 AM on December 17, 2019
I don't know if I got any happier, but my stress level bottomed out. (At least until Christmas rolls around each year.)
posted by MtDewd at 11:03 AM on December 17, 2019
Age 64: Stopping work
LOLOLOLOLOLOL I'll be working until I drop dead *sob*
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:30 AM on December 17, 2019 [3 favorites]
LOLOLOLOLOLOL I'll be working until I drop dead *sob*
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:30 AM on December 17, 2019 [3 favorites]
Interesting that there are many more men than women who are carers for their spouses - the one in that graph where this is the case.
posted by doggod at 1:55 PM on December 17, 2019
posted by doggod at 1:55 PM on December 17, 2019
This article places far, far too much emphasis on that whole "having children" business.
posted by Delia at 2:33 PM on December 17, 2019
posted by Delia at 2:33 PM on December 17, 2019
>Interesting that there are many more men than women who are carers for their spouses - the one in that graph where this is the case.
That's not the math based on language of article.
1 in 4 women are carers.
1 in 6 men are carers.
of carers, 1 in 4 men and 1 in 6 women are caring for a spouse. It comes out exactly equal.
(1/24 for both men and women overall)
Which I'm impressed by, because other things I read said men are more likely to divorce a sick spouse than women are.
posted by Cozybee at 4:26 PM on December 17, 2019 [5 favorites]
That's not the math based on language of article.
1 in 4 women are carers.
1 in 6 men are carers.
of carers, 1 in 4 men and 1 in 6 women are caring for a spouse. It comes out exactly equal.
(1/24 for both men and women overall)
Which I'm impressed by, because other things I read said men are more likely to divorce a sick spouse than women are.
posted by Cozybee at 4:26 PM on December 17, 2019 [5 favorites]
I am a total junkie for these kinds of things, so thank you. I inly wish the OECD could give apples-to-apples data on all of these things for all of the places that aren't England and Wales.
posted by sy at 6:12 PM on December 17, 2019
posted by sy at 6:12 PM on December 17, 2019
I think the "carer" stats draw from self-reported data, though (2011 census, and a "Department for Work and Pensions – Family Resources" survey: "The Family Resources Survey (FRS) is a continuous household survey which collects information on a representative sample of private households in the United Kingdom").
From the post: "There is some evidence that people who get married later in life have a lower risk of divorce; this may help to explain why the divorce rate has been coming down at the same time as average marital age has been rising."
me: That's kinda nice
also me: Dead before they could file, tsk tsk
posted by Iris Gambol at 8:08 PM on December 17, 2019
From the post: "There is some evidence that people who get married later in life have a lower risk of divorce; this may help to explain why the divorce rate has been coming down at the same time as average marital age has been rising."
me: That's kinda nice
also me: Dead before they could file, tsk tsk
posted by Iris Gambol at 8:08 PM on December 17, 2019
It sounds dreamy to have a stable home and family and be able to retire and reach peak happiness and not have to scrap until I get too sick to work and then die in misery. When are these… people …going to figure out that the 20th century was a one-off and planning for it continue indefinitely is only going to make things worse?
posted by ob1quixote at 9:29 PM on December 17, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by ob1quixote at 9:29 PM on December 17, 2019 [3 favorites]
Age 64: Stopping work
As an early-forties woman in tech, I just hope I'll be able to continue to find employment for that long. It scares me rather that in twenty years as a software developer, I've never had a senior female colleague.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 3:27 AM on December 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
As an early-forties woman in tech, I just hope I'll be able to continue to find employment for that long. It scares me rather that in twenty years as a software developer, I've never had a senior female colleague.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 3:27 AM on December 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
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