{"id":11806,"date":"2017-10-11T07:03:05","date_gmt":"2017-10-11T12:03:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/the-share-of-americans-living-without-a-partner-has-increased-especially-among-young-adults\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:16:14","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:16:14","slug":"the-share-of-americans-living-without-a-partner-has-increased-especially-among-young-adults","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2017\/10\/11\/the-share-of-americans-living-without-a-partner-has-increased-especially-among-young-adults\/","title":{"rendered":"The share of Americans living without a partner has increased, especially among young adults"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

In the past 10 years, the share of U.S. adults living without a spouse or partner has climbed to 42%, up from 39% in 2007, when the Census Bureau began collecting detailed data on cohabitation.<\/p>\n\n

Two important demographic trends have influenced this phenomenon. The share of adults who are married has fallen<\/a>, while the share living with a romantic partner<\/a> has grown. However, the increase in cohabitation has not been large enough to offset the decline in marriage, giving way to the rise in the number of \u201cunpartnered\u201d Americans.<\/p>\n\n

The share of adults who are unpartnered has increased across the young and middle-aged, but the rise has been most pronounced among young adults. Roughly six-in-ten adults younger than 35 (61%) are now living without a spouse or partner, up from 56% just 10 years ago.<\/p>\n\n

The rise in adults living without a spouse or partner has also occurred against the backdrop of a third important demographic shift: the aging of American adults. Older adults (55 and older) are more likely to have a spouse or partner than younger adults. So it is surprising that the share of adults who are unpartnered has risen even though relatively more Americans are older.<\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

Divorce has likely not contributed to the growing share of unpartnered adults over this short period. Though divorce statistics are complicated<\/a>, many argue that the divorce rate has generally been stable or falling<\/a> since the 1980s.<\/p>\n\n

This trend has important implications for the economic well-being of U.S. adults, as research has shown the financial benefits of marriage and cohabitation. The median household income (adjusted for household size<\/a>) for partnered adults, either married or cohabiting, is $86,000. By contrast, the median household income for unpartnered adults is roughly $61,000. In addition, unpartnered adults are about twice as likely as partnered adults to be living in poverty (17% versus 7%).<\/p>\n\n

The rates of unpartnered Americans vary significantly by key demographics. Men (40%) are less likely than women (43%) to live without a spouse or partner. And adults with at least a bachelor\u2019s degree are significantly less likely to be unpartnered (31%) than less-educated adults (46%). White and Asian adults (37% of each group) are much less likely to be unpartnered than Hispanic (46%) and black (62%) adults.<\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

Over the past decade, the share of adults who are unpartnered has risen more sharply among those who are not employed. In 2007, 46% of working-age adults without a job were not living with a spouse or partner. By 2017 that share had risen to 51%. Among employed working-age adults, the share who were unpartnered increased more modestly since 2007, from 36% to 38%.<\/p>\n\n

This does not imply that lack of employment is a cause of people not having a partner.\u00a0On one hand, surveys indicate that people say it\u2019s important for men to be economically success<\/span>ful<\/span><\/a><\/span> to be good<\/span> husbands or partners.\u00a0<\/span>On the other hand, a large body of economic literature shows that marriage causes husbands to be more successful<\/a> on the job. It is possible that the lack of a partner provides less of a spur to obtain employment.<\/p>\n\n

A narrow majority (56%) of unpartnered adults are the head of their household. Some 35% are living alone and 22% are living with others in the home (single parents would fall into this category). Nearly three-in-ten (28%) are living with a parent or grandparent, reflecting the fact that unpartnered adults are disproportionately young. An additional 16% have some other relationship to the head of the household (for example, a sibling or roommate).<\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

Almost six-in-ten unpartnered adults (58%) have never been married. About a fifth of unpartnered adults (21%) are divorced, 14% are widowed, and the remainder are either separated or married without a spouse present in the household.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the past 10 years, the share of U.S. adults living without a spouse or partner has climbed to 42%, up from 39% in 2007.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"relatedPosts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[]},"categories":[29,453,371,223,227],"bylines":[984],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[515],"research-teams":[519],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-11806","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","hentry","category-generations-age","category-leisure","category-lifestyle","category-marriage-divorce","category-unmarried-adults","bylines-richard-fry","formats-short-read","regions-countries-united-states","research-teams-social-trends"],"label":"Short 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