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Unmarrieds and Singles, Your Time is Coming

By which I mean National Unmarried and Single Americans Week (Sept. 17-23) is coming! So plan something. Go out. Or stay home. The week is an opportunity to join together (temporarily!) to, as this website puts it, "C-E-L-E-B-R-A-T-E the lives and contributions of unmarried and single Americans!" In any event, here, via ResourceShelf, are some "fast facts" from the U.S. Census about this segment of the population (which comprises about 90 million people, or 41 percent of all U.S. residents age 18 and older).

Single Life
54
Percentage of unmarried and single Americans who are women.

60
Percentage of unmarried and single Americans who have never been married. Another 25 percent are divorced and 15 percent are widowed.

14.9 million
Number of unmarried and single Americans age 65 and older. These older Americans comprise 14 percent of all unmarried and single people.

86
Number of unmarried men age 18 and older for every 100 unmarried women in the United States.

55 million
Number of households maintained by unmarried men or women. These households comprise 49 percent of households nationwide.

29.9 million
Number of people who live alone. These persons comprise 26 percent of all households, up from 17 percent in 1970

Parenting
32
Percentage of births in 2004 to unmarried women.

12.9 million
Number of single parents living with their children in 2005. Of these, 10.4 million are single mothers.

40
Percentage of opposite-sex, unmarried-partner households that include children.

672,000
Number of unmarried grandparents who were caregivers for their grandchildren in 2004. They comprised nearly 3-in-10 grandparents who were responsible for their grandchildren. (Source: American FactFinder)

Unmarried Couples
4.9 million
Number of unmarried-partner households in 2005. These households consist of a householder living with someone of the opposite sex who was identified as their unmarried partner.

Dating
904
The number of dating service establishments nationwide as of 2002. These establishments, which include Internet dating services, employed nearly 4,300 people and pulled in $489 million in revenues.

Voters
36
Percentage of voters in the 2004 presidential election who were unmarried.

Education
82
Percentage of unmarried people age 25 or older in 2004 who were high-school graduates.

23
Percentage of unmarried people age 25 or older with a bachelor's degree or more education.

Comments

That's a *lot* of unmarried people! No wonder the Right is so worried about the institution of marriage; it's an archaic system.

Posted by: Dave D on 08/15/06 at 4:56 AM

I guess Huxley had a pretty keen eye on where society was going.

Posted by: Dan on 08/15/06 at 6:23 AM

I live in a conservative area where you're looked at with pity if you're not married by the time you're in your late 20s. This makes me realize I'm not alone and I'm not as weird as I thought :) Kinda cool, now if we could just end the pricing discrimination that takes place against singles all the time in relation to admission to events, pool passes, etc..we'd be in business....

Posted by: Wendy on 08/15/06 at 6:50 AM

If you're unmarried you are definitely not alone! Check out the Alternatives to Marriage Project - www.unmarried.org. Hundreds of people converse through our email list and thousands subscribe to our quarterly newsletter.
Political maneuvers to "protect" a.k.a. promote marriage often come at the expense of singles and unmarried couples. Marriage discrimination amendments on the November ballot in 8 states could undermine domestic partnerships, health insurance, adoption, protection from domestic violence, and other crucial rights for ALL unmarried people.

Posted by: Nicky Grist on 08/15/06 at 8:57 AM