Though I would guess that there are other factors as well, such as the very high divorce rate here and general breakdown of family, plus our car-centric lifestyles which have us spending excessive amounts of time driving around, thus fostering the drive-through food mentality (which means even when you get home, you want it in 2 minutes, thus microwave meals). Cooking from scratch is time consuming. It's easier to develop those skills if you have the traditional nuclear family thing going where one person is the primary cook and it's easier to come up with the time when you don't spend an hour or more every day just driving to and from work. (Generally speaking, even if your commute takes just as much time, taking the bus/train takes less mental and physical energy out of you than driving does.)
Though I would guess that there are other factors as well, such as the very high divorce rate here and general breakdown of family, plus our car-centric lifestyles which have us spending excessive amounts of time driving around, thus fostering the drive-through food mentality (which means even when you get home, you want it in 2 minutes, thus microwave meals). Cooking from scratch is time consuming. It's easier to develop those skills if you have the traditional nuclear family thing going where one person is the primary cook and it's easier to come up with the time when you don't spend an hour or more every day just driving to and from work. (Generally speaking, even if your commute takes just as much time, taking the bus/train takes less mental and physical energy out of you than driving does.)