Unmarried and Single Americans Week

Original Release

Unmarried and Single Americans Week
Sept. 16-22, 2007

“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. 16-22 in 2007) 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.

Single Life

92 million
Number of unmarried and single Americans 18 and older in 2006. This group comprised 42 percent of all U.S. residents 18 and older. <http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/families_households/009842.html>

54%
Percentage of unmarried and single Americans 18 and older who are women. <http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/families_households/009842.html>

60%
Percentage of unmarried and single Americans 18 and older who have never been married. Another 25 percent are divorced, and 15 percent are widowed. <http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/families_households/009842.html>

15 million
Number of unmarried and single Americans 65 and older. These older Americans comprise 16 percent of all unmarried and single people 18 and older. <http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/families_households/009842.html>

86
Number of unmarried men 18 and older for every 100 unmarried women in the United States. <http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/families_households/009842.html>

50.7 million
Number of households maintained by unmarried men or women. These households comprise 44 percent of households nationwide. <http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/families_households/009842.html>

30.5 million
Number of people who live alone. They comprise 27 percent of all households, up from 17 percent in 1970. <http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/families_households/009842.html>

Parenting

32%
Percentage of births to unmarried women during the year ending in June 2004. <http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/fertility.html>

12.9 million
Number of single parents living with their children in 2006. Of these, 10.4 million were single mothers. <http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/families_households/009842.html>

9%
Percentage of households headed by single parents in 2006, up from 5 percent in 1970. <http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/families_households/009842.html>

39%
Percentage of opposite-sex, unmarried-partner households that include children. <http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/families_households/009842.html>

712,000
Number of unmarried grandparents who were caregivers for their grandchildren in 2005. They comprised nearly three in 10 grandparents who were responsible for their grandchildren. (Source: 2005 American Community Survey)

Unmarried Couples

5 million
Number of unmarried-partner households in 2006. These households consist of a householder living with someone of the opposite sex who was identified as their unmarried partner. <http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/families_households/009842.html>

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 pulled in $489 million in revenues. <http://www.census.gov/econ/census02/guide/SUBSUMM.HTM>

Voters

36%
Percentage of voters in the 2004 presidential election who were unmarried. (Source: Voting and Registration in the Election of November 2004, at <http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/voting/004986.html>)

Education

83%
Percentage of unmarried people 25 and older in 2006 who were high school graduates. <http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/009749.html>

24%
Percentage of unmarried people 25 and older in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree or more education. <http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/009749.html>

“Special Editions” of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Facts for Features are issued to provide background information for lesser-known observances, anniversaries of historic events and other timely topics in the news.

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. 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>.