The Generational Landscape
A generation is entering the window right now.
Family formation is generationally cyclical. By 2040, Gen Z will be the dominant force shaping how American family is built — with Gen Alpha just entering, Millennials aging out, and the handoff already underway.
Bar height reflects U.S. population size, 2040 estimate
The Handoff
By 2040, Gen Z will be the dominant force inside the prime family-formation window — with Gen Alpha entering behind them. The generation of American parents that follows Millennials will look and behave differently than any before them. Their choices are being made right now.
U.S. Census Bureau population projections · Pew Research Center generational definitions · Silver Stork Research analysis
The Hypothesis
What Family 2040 is testing.
That Gen Z will build family fundamentally differently from the generations before them — and that the implications span every path to parenthood.
What We're Finding
A preview of the signals.
of Gen Z want to get married — the highest of any generation currently surveyed.
Match Group, Singles in America 2026is the median age at first marriage for Gen Z women, up from 20 in 1960.
U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey 2025For Adoption Professionals
Adoption is one of five areas of inquiry.
Adoption-specific findings and a dedicated Field Guide for Adoption Professionals will release alongside the broader June 2027 publication. Subscribers hear first.
See early research signals →Welcome · You're Early
Come along.
Family 2040 is being built in the field right now, with findings publishing June 2027 and rolling updates thereafter. Subscribers get waypoints, Field Guide access, and announcements as they land. No spam.
Get Family 2040 Updates →Related writing at Wait, Actually.Behind The Study
Silver Stork Research.
Family 2040 is Silver Stork Research's inaugural Public Observatory — a research program stood up to study a signal in public interest.
Founded and led by Marta Loeb — adoptee, adoptive mother, former board member of Gift of Adoption (Massachusetts). Graduate Certificate in Strategic Foresight, University of Houston. Stanford GSB LEAD. altMBA. MBA and BA, Boston University.