Majority of American women now without a spouse, census finds

16th January 2007

For what is believed to be the first time, more American women are living without a husband than with one.

In 2005, 51 percent of women said they were living without a spouse, up from 35 percent in 1950 and 49 percent in 2000.

The news comes as census results also reveal that in 2005 married couples became a minority of all American households for the first time. Researchers believe that the trend could ultimately shape social and workplace policies, including the ways government and employers distribute benefits.

Women are marrying later, living with unmarried partners more often and for longer periods, women are living longer as widows and, low marriage rates among black women are believed to be some of the factors behind the trend.

Only about 30 percent of black women are living with a spouse, according to the Census Bureau, compared with about 49 percent of Hispanic women, 55 percent of non-Hispanic white women and more than 60 percent of Asian women.

Reacting to the findings, Prof. Stephanie Coontz, director of public education for the Council on Contemporary Families, said that the research showed that marriage is no longer the main focus of everybody’s life.

“Most of these women will marry, or have married. But on average, Americans now spend half their adult lives outside marriage,” she continued. Professor Coontz said this was probably unprecedented with the possible exception of major wartime mobilizations and when black couples were separated during slavery.

William H. Frey, a demographer with the Brookings Institution, a research group in Washington, described the shift as “a clear tipping point, reflecting the culmination of post-1960 trends associated with greater independence and more flexible lifestyles for women.”

The proportion of married people in the US, especially among younger age groups, has been declining for decades. Between 1950 and 2000, the share of women 15-to-24 who were married plummeted to 16 percent, from 42 percent. Among 25-to-34-year-olds, the proportion dropped to 58 percent, from 82 percent.