Does anyone know?

[Beekissed]

What the general statistics are right now for this growing movement towards self-sustainability? What age group is most likely to be wanting this? Male or female? Which socioeconomic group? Predominant race? Families or singles? Eastern vs. western US? North vs. south?

 

[rty007]

I would GUESS, that sex is a random thing, but age is above 30 something. Couse the younger folks such as me for that matter, in most cases think about their big careers, money, big the star or whatever, whereas people that think of SS, are mostly outcasts that stay in the shadow, and don't give a hoot what the rest of the society think.

 

[bibliophile birds]

i don't have actual figures, but i've noticed A LOT of younger women getting into SS. maybe i noticed that group more because i'm from that group, but every organic/sustainable business i've encountered lately has been at least co-headed by a woman in her mid-late 20s or early 30s.

i did read somewhere (and i can't remember where at the moment) that the VAST majority of new farmers in the past few years, as in farmers who's parents weren't farmers, are under 35 and organic and/or sustainable.

 

[mandieg4]

i don't have actual figures, but i've noticed A LOT of younger women getting into SS. maybe i noticed that group more because i'm from that group, but every organic/sustainable business i've encountered lately has been at least co-headed by a woman in her mid-late 20s or early 30s.

I would agree with this, but maybe because I fit in this group I see things a skewed. It seems that here recently there are more mom's staying at home than there were 10 years ago when my first was born. More homeschoolers, more families more interested in their health, etc. I think all of that can naturally lead to a SS lifestyle, either out of desire or necessity.

 

[bibliophile birds]

women (of all ages) certainly seem to be the majority of members here! however do the guys put up with us?

 

[DrakeMaiden]

What the general statistics are right now for this growing movement towards self-sustainability? What age group is most likely to be wanting this? Male or female? Which socioeconomic group? Predominant race? Families or singles? Eastern vs. western US? North vs. south?

I would say it is mostly middle class people. I would imagine it is more likely to be families and more likely to be women, since women supposedly make the majority of the shopping (and therefore lifestyle) decisions. I think it is a wide age range, but maybe more likely to be people who are older and/or people who are just starting out 20's to mid 30's or even early 40's. I think there is a gap of 40-60 or so year olds who feel more untouchable by the economic changes . . . but that is a gross over-generalization and just based on a feeling that I have and personal observations.

 

[lorihadams]

I would also say people that have young children, there are more and more 30ish people like me that are worried about their children's health issues and see being self sustaining as being a better way to control what goes into their family's stomachs. My friend has a daughter that has a chicken egg allergy that was brought on by the H1N1 vaccine and she is also allergic to soy and food dyes and colorings. She has started a garden and put up a clothesline and is making a lot more stuff from scratch now because of her DD's allergies. Processed food is just too unreliable.

 

[sylvie]

Ten years ago it was dominated by men, particularly heads of households. Guys were going to all the survival shows, short wave shows discussing self sustainability were predominately male with male callers, TSC was a regular haunt for supplies, wives were instructed what to look for while shopping.
This is what I observed and heard.
I believe that is changing.
When I attend solar and energy events that ratio is now 50-50. Couples are both asking questions so they are both engaged in the process.

I think that the middle class is shifting overall so the majority probably fits into low end middle class.

When I worked for the postal service the minority co-workers were buying chunks of land to retire on, to be debt free and little need for consumerism. I think that qualifies.

Is this for your book?

 

[Beekissed]

Sort of.... To write a query letter to a literary agent, one must provide statistics for why a book of this nature will be a good seller. I think that is kind of specific to nonfiction and particularly how-to, informative books regarding a particular subject.

I can't seem to find any statistics on this with my online searches, even on sites that deal mainly in statistics.

I figured that Pat would know, if anyone would!

 

[hwillm1977]

I think it really could be anyone....

On the lower end of the scale, which is what I was growing up, we grew our own food because we couldn't afford to buy it (or at least good, healthy, fresh things) at a grocery store, and there was no local grocery store so a lot of people still used the barter system.

I would consider myself on the lower end of middle class now, and want to have better things for myself and the satisfaction of knowing I did it myself. Also to provide better things for my children (when I have some).

I'm female, in my early 30's... so I guess that I notice more of the people fitting into my group. I've wanted to be self sufficient my entire life, but my financial situation is just now letting me begin the adventure. I would have bought books on it at anytime

I'll see if I can find some stats somewhere... I work for a publishing company (newspapers) so we have lots of reporters who are great at digging up stuff... I'll ask some of them to check for me.