The U.S. Census reports some startling facts about the single and unmarried demographic within the American population. Just one question -- isn't single and unmarried the same thing?

Apparently not. According to the definition of the Buckeye Singles Council in Ohio, which "celebrates life, recognizes singles and their contributions to society," according to the U.S. Census, "many unmarried Americans do not identify with the word "single" because they are parents, have partners, or are widowed."

That said, out of nearly 300 million Americans, 89.9 million are unmarried or single, a whopping 41 percent of all U.S. residents age 18 and older.

Fifty-four percent of unmarried and single Americans are women.

Of the singles and unmarrieds, 60 percent have never been married, while the remaining 25 percent are divorced and 15 percent are widowed. There are currently 86 unmarried men age 18 and older for every 100 unmarried women in the United States.

Singles and unmarrieds over the age of 65 constitute 14 percent of singles and unmarrieds, or 14.9 million people.

Of special interest to developers, builders and Realtors is the rising number of people who live alone -- 29.9 million. This is a huge increase to 26 percent of all households, up from 17 percent in 1970. Nearly half of all households (55 million) are maintained by unmarried men or women. Of these, 12.9 million are households comprised of single parents living with their children, 10.4 million of which are single mothers. And, 4.9 million households consist of unmarried-partners, a householder living with someone of the opposite sex who was identified as their unmarried partner.

The society is increasingly relaxed about how children are raised. Thirty-two percent of births in 2004 were to unmarried women, and 40 percent of opposite-sex, unmarried-partner households include children. And, according to American FactFinder, nearly one in three (672,000) grandparents are the primary caregivers for their grandchildren.

"National Unmarried and Singles Week" is observed during the third full week of September (Sept. 17-23 in 2006).

Published: August 14, 2006

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