Delayed Gratification

Said a young man without a home loan,
Back at home with his folks in Bayonne:
"While household formation
Is met with frustration,
My wild oats are sitting unsown."

Might there be demographic implications in the US economic data and outlook? A couple of current posts in The Wall Street Journal's Real Time Economics blog leave one to wonder if a "baby bust" may be developing. First, stagnant wages are limiting consumer spending; since October 2010, real wages have declined 1.2%, and consumers have limited capacity to tap their already tapped-out credit card lines to propel domestic spending. Secondly, RTE reports that the Conference Board has looked into the future of housing and seen a wave of renting and downsizing; actually, that sounds like the present if you add living at home with the parents. It all adds up to less room for the pitter-pattering of little feet, and less money to keep them in baby booties, in the foreseeable future.