Demographic trends and implica
Demographic trends and implicaTrend #1: Increase in single-parent Households.
It is evident that in today’s society, one can see an increase in single-parent households. This demographic phenomenon will likely continue through the beginning of this new century. Before we can begin to strategize efforts to market our product to this growing demographic group, we must understand some history of this trend.
There are several reasons that may lead to why society is seeing a steady increase in the single-parent family structure. One reason is that a smaller percentage of the population is deciding to get married. In fact, since 1970, the proportion of the American population age 25-44 who have never married has doubled. This proportion has tripled for those 30-34 (Poussaint 4). Another reason given for the current trend is an increasing social and economical independence among women (Hollander 23). A third reason for the current trend is the increase in the chance of a divorce for those that are getting married. A married woman in 1990 that was between the age of 20-34 had about a 19.6 percent chance that her marriage would end in divorce. The projection for the same age group is that within 15 years, the percentage among the same age group of women will be around 40 percent (Russell 211). So, the current popular saying of “half of marriages end in divorce” is slowly becoming true. The demographic trend toward single-parent households is clear and definite. The history and projections show that the trend will not disappear, but will become more evident.
Implications:
As the operator of a theme park, one must be able to capitalize on the increase of single parent families. This demographic trend will affect most every theme park. Since this trend will impact the theme park business as a whole, one must make adjustments to capitalize on this trend. One may ask, how can we do this?
With the increase of the single-parent household, we will more than likely see a decrease in family income (Poussaint 17). A decrease will occur because the household will be supported by a single income instead of a duel income. One way the theme park industry can use this information is to offer different rate structures for different use situations. For example, a park could offer half-price child tickets with the purchase of an adult ticket. The park could also simply lower there child ticket prices. A combination of these two ideas could allow for the park to accommodate both the single parents that will accompany the children to the park and those that will not.
Another way to market to single-parent households is to provide an area at the theme park for drop-off and pick-up of children. This will allow parents to drop their children off and return later to pick them up. This is important because...
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