Demography and the single girl

[bemildred]

LAST WEEK, THE Census Bureau released data from 2000 showing that single, childless households are now the largest segment of the population.

I was so surprised by this that I nearly spilled my Chinese takeout into the sink I was standing and eating over. Could it be that single people, the perennial icons of cat-owning, dirty-sock-wearing pathos, are finally getting their due?

Well, numbers don't lie. According to the report, individual households (that's people living alone without children) represent 31.6% of the population. That's a 21% increase since 1990. Married or unmarried couples with children accounted for a mere 31.3%.

As personally validating as these figures are for single people like me and many of my friends and neighbors — who have mastered such solo arts as doing laundry in the nude — I suspect many of us are also feeling a bit smug. The advent of speed dating and online personals has fostered a climate of marriage mania. When it's possible to make the New York Times wedding pages without even being heterosexual, you might think the institution of singleness has gone the way of disco.

LA Times

[bemildred]

1. Home Alone: Households of Singles Go to First in U.S.

WASHINGTON — For the first time, single adults outnumber couples with children as the most common type of household in the United States, according to new tabulations of the 2000 census.

In 1990, couples with children were the most prevalent family type, followed by singles, childless couples and single parents.

Previous studies showed that singles had moved ahead of married-with-children households. But the Census Bureau analysis, released Tuesday, is the first to divide homes by whether they have partners of any sort, regardless of marital status. Previous examinations put families in one category and "nonfamilies," including unmarried couples, in another.

The report, based on new calculations of the 2000 and 1990 tallies, found that solo households grew by 21% over the decade, while the next-largest category, married couples without children, grew by 11%. As a result, married or unmarried couples with children make up 31.3% of all homes. Individuals make up 31.6%.

LA Times