Family Expectations

The chapter “Family Expectations” examines how members of Generation Disaster envision their pursuit of traditional goals like finding a partner, having children, and buying a home in an era when they have more choices than ever—but each choice comes at some cost. For many, the rocky economy, their perceptions about the general safety of the world, and fears about climate change make them question whether it’s appropriate to reproduce at all. As a result of external forces and the major societal shifts around these customary but no longer automatic markers of adulthood, some are taking alternative paths around traditional approaches to family formation—whether by choice or because they feel circumstances beyond their control, like their finances, have forced them to.