Legions of Loners and Noncommittals Rule the Roost

[doombug]

In step with the growing popularity of foreign matrimony, credit the missteps and insatiable demands of feminism for one other recent trend.

In the U.S.:

"For the first time in 150 years, households headed by single adults and unmarried couples now outnumber married-couple families. In 1960, married-couple households represented more than 78 percent of American households. As late as 2000, married couples were 52 percent of all households. But in 2005, according to the recently released American Community Survey, households with a married couple at their core made up less than 50 percent of all households."

http://stephaniecoontz.com/articles/article31.htm


"Only 51.7 percent of the nation's households contained a married couple in 2000, down from 55 percent in 1990, 60.8 percent in 1980, and 70.5 percent in 1970.  In the 'Ozzie and Harriet' era of 1950, more than 78 percent of America's households were occupied by married couples.

"People living alone now occupy 25.8 percent of the nation's housing units, surpassing the 23.5 percent married-with-children households."

http://www.unmarriedamerica.org/CensusHouseholds/States/ORpress.htm

In the U.K.:

"The number of people living on their own is set to rise by 53% over the next 20 years, a new report claims.

"Research from Alliance & Leicester Mortgages found 'living loners' will total 9.9 million by 2026 as more and more people opt for a solitary home life.

"The figure is up from an estimated 6.6 million one-person households recorded in 2003 and represents an increase of around 150,000 a year.

"Over the same period the number of married couple households is set to fall to 8.8 million from 9.6 million, a reduction of 34,000 every year."

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-13556816,00.html

[jm21-2]

Just bored and looking at these threads...I've seen lots of people use these figures to support their opinion that there are tons of non-married, non-marriage minded, cohabiting couples in the US. Looking at the US Census statistics, however, almost all households are married couples, singles living alone, or single parents. something like 8% of couples are non-married and cohabiting (5% of households?), and my guess is that a good portion of those are headed towards marriage. It's also interesting to note that in cohabiting households, the percentage of women who hold title to the family house is _MUCH_ larger than married couples...that jives with my experience that wealthier, career minded women are much more likely to want to "test drive" a man through cohabitation, or not get married at all. Seems like when it's their turn to risk their wealth in marriage, they all of a sudden get cold feet.

It also points out how detrimental the fall of marriage can be. It's not that marriage is being replaced by non-married couples. It's being replaced by divorcees, lonely singles, and one-parent households. When viewed in that light, it's much easier to see why taking steps to stabilize marriage would help society.