116 CHAPTER 5 EXTERNALCONSIDERATIONSINMARKETING
- Thedemiseofthetraditionalfamily.Marriedcouplesarea baremajorityofU.S.
households.Onlyone-thirdofhouseholdshavechildrenunder 18 , andnearlyone-
fou:thofhouseholdsarepeoplewholivealone.However,marriedcouplesdom-
inate theaffluentmarketasthevastmajorityofveryhigh-incomehouseholdsare
maITiedcouples.Thelong-termtrendofhighgrowthinnontraditionaltypesof
householdsandlackofgrowthamongmarriec; couplescanonlymear.furtherseg-
mentationofanalreadysegmentedmarketplace.
Aphenomenonthatspeakstothechangeinthetraditional:amiiystructure
isknownasthe"sandwichgeneration,"Thesearea growinggroupofadultswho
arecaringforagiI'gparentswhileraisingtheirownchildren,Accordingto astudy
fromthe]\IationalAllianceforCaregivingandtheAmericariAssociationofRetired
Persons,therearemorethar,9 millionAmericansinthissituation, 40 %ofthem
between 35 ane'49.Thestressofbelongingtothesandwichgenerationistaking
a tollcountrywide."Allofa suddenyou'restrugglingwiththishugebalancing
act,"says3ethWillogenMcLeod,authorofCaregiving: TheSpiritualJourney
ofLove,Loss,andRenewal."Howdoyoufulfillallyourroles')Howdoyouoal-
anceyourmaITiage,yourchildren,yourwork-andeldercare?" - Thecontinuedincreaseineducation.Most adultsintheUnitedStatesstillhave
notcompletedcollege(approximately67%),butthatnumbercontinuestodecline.
Moreandmorepeoplehaveattendedsomecollegeorhaveanassociateortech-
nicaldegree.MoreskilledworKersmeanmoreknowledgeableandsophisticated
consumerswhoexpectmoreinformationaboutproductattributesandbenefitsbefore
makinga purchase.
( ,Nonphysicaljobskeepgrowing.Jobsthatdon'trequirephysicalstrengthkeepgrow-
inginnumber.Virtuallyalljobgrowthduringthenexttenyearswilltakeplace
amongserviceproviders. especiallyinhealthcareandsocialservices,Because
providingservicesrequire~littleinvestmentcomparedwithproducingconsumer
goods,wecanexpectcontinuedhighgrowthinsmallbusinesses,soleproprie-
torships,andotherentrepreneurialactivities,Also,theextremelyhighcostof
employeebenefitssuggeststhattheuseoftempof'1.ryworkersandindependent
contractorswillcOlltinuetogrow,Marketingmanagersmustassesswhetherson-
sumerswhodonotilavecorporatebenefitswiPbecomemorerisk-aversebecause
theylackthesafetyr.etofcompany-providedpensionplansandmedicalinsur-
ance,:fso,consumersmayseekmoney-backguaranteesorotherproductfeatures
thatreducerisk.Marketingmanagersmustalsoseewhetherpeoplewhoworkfor
themselvesorforsmallfirmsaremorefme-conscious, - Growingfasterthanexpected,About 272 m:tlionpeopleliveintheUnitedStates.
Thisisanincreaseof 18 millionsince1990,andmostofthegrowthhasresulted
fromanunforeseenboominbirths.TheUnitedStateshadabout 2004 millionbirths
betweenJanuary 1990 andDecember1994.";hiswasmorethaninanyfive-year
periodsincethelastfiveyearsofthelegendarybabyboom(1960to1964),and
6%morethaninthelate1980s.TheUnitedStatesalsoexperieT1c~dthehighest
five-yearimmigrationtotal(4.6million)sincetheturnofthecentury, anincr<;ase
of 31 %overthepreviousfiveyears.Theannualinfluxofnearly 1 miilionnew
residentshasledtoanincreasinglydiverseconsumermarketplace,pa:1icularly
amongyoungpeople. - Thegrowthofminorities,Although whitenon-Hispanicshavebeenthebiggest
contributorstotheU.S , populationgrowthinthe1990s,Hispanicshavebeena