There are more single people today than ever in history — 101 million in the U.S., 46% of the adult population (37.5 million/28% in 1970)
- Over 25% of households are single occupant households (17% in 1970)
- 53% of households are married couples (70% in 1970
- The marriage rate is decreasing, and is at its lowest in 30 years
- The divorce rate has remained stable since 1988
- While the exact divorce rate is a matter of debate, experts agree that somewhere between 40 and 60% of all marriages will end in divorce, and that for every marriage there is about one divorce
- Co-habitation is increasing, with a higher failure rate than marriage
- Single, separated, divorced or widowed people have higher rates of mental health disorders, depression, and suicide
- The percentage of young adults who say that having a good marriage is extremely important to them is increasing (94% in one study)
- The majority of first-born children are now conceived by, or born to, unmarried parents
- Half of all children will spend some time in a single parent family
- 43% of first marriages end within 15 years
- 39% of remarriages end within 10 years
- More than 85% of all adults marry at least once
A summary of a 1999 study by David Popenoe and Barbara Dafoe Whitehead of the National Marriage Project of Rutgers University on “The State Of Our Unions: The Social Health Of Marriage in America” states:
“Key social indicators suggest a substantial weakening of the institution of marriage. Americans have become less likely to marry. When they do marry their marriages are less happy. And married couples face a high likelihood of divorce. Over the past four decades, marriage has declined as the first living together experience for couples and as a status of parenthood. Unmarried cohabitation and unwed births have grown enormously, and so has the percentage of children who grow up in fragile families.”