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Unmarried and Single Americans
Week
Sept. 20-26, 2009
“National Singles Week” was started by the
Buckeye Singles Council in Ohio in the 1980s to celebrate single life and
recognize singles and their contributions to society. The week is now widely
observed during the third full week of September (Sept. 20-26 in 2009) as
“Unmarried and Single Americans Week,” an acknowledgment that many unmarried
Americans do not identify with the word “single” because they are parents, have
partners or are widowed. In this edition of Facts for Features, unmarried
people include those who were never married, widowed, or divorced, unless
otherwise noted.
Single
Life
95.9 million
Number
of unmarried Americans 18 and older in 2008. This group comprised 43 percent of
all U.S. residents 18 and older.
53%
Percentage of unmarried
Americans 18 and older who were women.
61%
Percentage of unmarried
Americans 18 and older who had never been married. Another 24 percent were
divorced, and 15 percent were widowed.
15.8 million
Number
of unmarried Americans 65 and older. These older Americans comprised 16 percent
of all unmarried and single people 18 and older.
87
Number of unmarried men
18 and older for every 100 unmarried women in the United States.
52.9 million
Number
of households maintained by unmarried men or women. These households comprised
45 percent of households nationwide.
32.2 million
Number
of people who lived alone. They comprised 28 percent of all households, up from
17 percent in 1970.
Source for statements in this section:
America’s Families and Living Arrangements: 2008
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/families_households/013378.html>
Parenting
33%
Percentage of women age
15 to 50 with a birth in the last 12 months, as of 2006, who either were
widowed, divorced or never married. About 199,000 were living with an unmarried
partner. Source: Fertility of American Women: 2006
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/012510.html>
11.6 million
Number
of single parents living with their children in 2008. Of these, 9.8 million
were single mothers.
Source: America’s Families and Living Arrangements: 2008
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/families_households/013378.html>
38%
Percentage of
opposite-sex, unmarried-partner households that included at least one
biological child of either partner.
Source: America’s Families and Living
Arrangements: 2008
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/families_households/013378.html>
743,000
Number of unmarried
grandparents who were caregivers for their grandchildren in 2007. They
comprised about three in 10 grandparents who were responsible for their
grandchildren. Source: 2007 American Community Survey
<http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Products/users_guide/index.htm>
Unmarried
Couples
6.2 million
Number of
unmarried-partner households in 2007. These included 5.5 million of the
opposite sex.
Source: 2007 American Community Survey <http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Products/users_guide/index.htm>
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 generated
$489 million in revenues. Source: 2002 Economic Census
<http://www.census.gov/econ/census02/guide/SUBSUMM.HTM>
Voters
38%
Percentage of voters in
the 2008 presidential election who were unmarried. Source: Voting and
Registration in the Election of 2008
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/voting/013995.html>
Education
84%
Percentage of unmarried
people 25 and older in 2008 who were high school graduates. Source: Educational
Attainment in the United States: 2008 <http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/013618.html>
24%
Percentage of unmarried
people 25 and older in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree or more education. Source:
Educational Attainment in the United States: 2008 <http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/013618.html>
SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau’s Facts for
Features series.
Editor’s note:The preceding data were collected from a
variety of sources and may be subject to sampling variability and other sources
of error. Facts for Features are customarily released about two months before
an observance in order to accommodate magazine production timelines. Questions
or comments should be directed to the Census Bureau’s Public Information
Office: telephone: 301-763-3030; fax: 301-763-3762; or e-mail: <pio@census.gov>.
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