In modern society, young people prefer to stay apart from their parents and live alone in a metropolis. Further, they have a tendency of postponing their parenthood until late 30’s or even early 40’s. This trend may involve some factors and the most rooted one can be modern urbanized lifestyle which features high level of mobility and instability of economic situation. In addition, young people facing enormous competition and stress at workplace, have to focus on their jobs and therefor have little time for their families. Obviously under such circumstance, committing to a serious relationship or starting a family, which means tremendous responsibility and dedication, is not a preferable choice. Also the extended family is no longer a realistic option and is replaced by the nuclear one. The cost increase of raising a child is another barrier to late parenthood, and this is especially obvious in major cities around the world. This change of lifestyle can have some negative effects on individuals and the society as a whole. Firstly low birthrates can result in an ageing population and a lack of labor force in the future. Medical care service will be in high demand and medical cost will rise significantly. Living alone without long term and stable relationships is widely thought to be associated with personal sense of happiness, which would reduce an individual’s general satisfaction with life, but increase the sense of isolation. Traditionally, cultures and values are passed on in family daily life. However, in modern cities, the young generation living away from the older one have little chance to learn any from their parents. Instead, they are being assimilated by globally popular cultures.

在现代社会中，年轻人更喜欢远离父母，独自生活在一个大都市里。进一步，他们已经推迟生育直到30年代末或早40年代这一趋势可能涉及一些因素是现代城市生活方式，具有高水平的流动性和不稳定的经济形势最根深蒂固的一个趋势。此外，年轻人面临着巨大的竞争和压力，在工作场所，必须专注于自己的工作，因此很少有时间为他们的家庭。显然在这种情况下，对一个严重的关系或是一个家庭，这意味着巨大的责任和奉献，不是一个更好的选择。另外，大家庭已不再是一个现实的选择，取而代之的是核家庭。抚养孩子的成本增加是晚父母的另一个障碍，这在世界主要城市尤其明显。这种生活方式的改变对个人和整个社会都会产生一些负面的影响。首先，低出生率会导致人口的老龄化和未来缺乏劳动力。医疗服务将在高需求和医疗费用将大幅上升。没有长期的、稳定的人际关系，被广泛认为是与个人的幸福感相关，这会降低个体对生活的总体满意程度，而增加孤独感。传统文化和价值观在家庭生活中被传递。然而，在现代城市，年轻一代生活在远离老年人的人很少有机会从他们的父母中学习。相反，他们被全球流行文化同化。