As the U.S. crime rate collapsed over the past two decades, the arrest rate declined by almost a third. Because criminality peaks in young adulthood, population aging at first blush seems a likely cause of the welcome drop in arrests, such that police today have less work to do because the legions of graying, rule-respecting, baby boomers and Gen Xers outnumber millennial troublemakers. As logical as that hypothesis may sound, a recent analysis by the Bureau of Justice Statistics reveals that it could not be more wrong.
Surprisingly, the drop in the arrest rate over time is entirely accounted for by the current generation of oung adults, who are busted 23 percent less frequently than prior generations were at their age. Remarkably, despite the national drop in overall crime and arrest rates, the arrest rate among older Americans is higher than it was 20 years ago. This holds for adults ages 40 to 54 (a 9 percent increase) and even more so for adults age 55 and older (a 12 percent increase). The baby boomers, who drove the American crime explosion in their youth, are apparently continuing to outdo prior generations in their late-life criminality.
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Something to consider in this drop in crime rates, since 1973 and the Row V. Wade decision, women have not been obligated to birth children of rape and abusive relationships. How many of these abortions would have grown into adult violent criminals, if their mothers has not had been able to terminate the crisis pregnancy. While women still have a hard time pressing charges in rape cases, at least women can choose to avoid having to carry and raise children that are products of rape and abuse. If there is any genetic component in criminality, then abortion would be part of the reason that crime rates have dropped since the Row v. Wade decision. The fetus may be innocent, but the fetus still gets, for good or for bad, half it's genetics from it's father.
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