Many people would interpret “the American dream” as “living like an American”—— a two-story house with a white picket fence; a family with two cars; and two children.
However, the ____41____ economic situation is affecting the American way of life for 4.4 million people living in the US, according to new census data. “It’s going to have a long-term ____42____ and to say it’s going to end is optimistic,” says Cheryl Russell, former editor-in-chief of American Demographics magazine. “We’re just in the middle of a big ____43______.”
So what is the new normal?
Marrying later. The average age of the first marriage has ____44_____ to 28.7 for men and 26.7 for women, up from 27.5 and 25.9 _____45_____ in 2006.
Fewer babies. There were 200,000 fewer babies among women ____46____ 20 to 34 in 2010 compared with two years before. This was despite the fact that the number of women of childbearing age had gone up by more than 1 million.
Breaking up is ____47_____. The number of divorces has been falling for 25 years as people wait longer or choose to live together before tying the ____48_____. There were about 65,000 fewer divorces in 2010 than in 2008, a 7 percent decrease.
____49___ living. Unemployment is forcing more people to live together. The number of households where people lived with “other relatives” climbed from 6.7 percent in 2006 to 7.2 percent in 2010.
Going _____50____. Private school enrollment decreased from 13.6 percent in 2006 to 12.8 percent in 2010.
KEYS:41J, 42D, 43A, 44B, 45G,46E, 47K,48I,49H,50F 
