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Below you'll find current statistics about:
Cohabitation (unmarried partner households)
Unmarried childbearing and parenting
More about unmarried different-sex couples
Marital status (general information)
What people think about unmarried relationships
Domestic partner health benefits
Also, visit our Experts Speak page to read recent comments on unmarried lives by sociologists, demographers, historians, and other experts.
According to the 2000 Census, there are currently about 11
million people living with an unmarried partner in the U.S. This includes both
same-sex and different-sex couples.
- U.S. Census Bureau, 2000
(If this number doesn't match the number you found from another source, read
How We Get Our Numbers, below).
For a list of the states with the highest and lowest percentages of unmarried
partner households, see our
Fun Facts page.
There are 9.7 million Americans living with an unmarried different-sex partner
and 1.2 million American living with a same-sex partner. 11% of unmarried
partners are same-sex couples.
- U.S. Census Bureau, 2000
41% of American women ages 15-44 have cohabited (lived with
an unmarried different-sex partner) at some point. This includes 9% of women
ages 15-19, 38% of women ages 20-24, 49% of women ages 25-29, 51% of women ages
30-34, 50% of women ages 35-39, and 43% of women ages 40-44.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Cohabitation, Marriage, Divorce,
and Remarriage in the United States." Vital Health and Statistics Series 23,
Number 22, Department of Health and Human Services, 2002.
The number of unmarried couples living together increased 72% between 1990 and 2000.
- U.S. Census Bureau, 2000The number of unmarried couples living together has increased tenfold between 1960 and 2000.
- U.S. Census Bureau, 2000.
41% of unmarried partner households have children under 18
living in them.
- U.S. Census Bureau, America's Families and Living Arrangements 2000
33% of all births are to unmarried women.
- National Center for Health Statistics, 2000 data (report released 2002)
41% of first births to unmarried women are actually babies
born to cohabiting couples, not "single" women.
- Bumpass, Larry and Lu, Hsien-Hen(2000). "Trends in Cohabitation and
Implications for Children's Family Contexts in the United States." Population
Studies, 54: 29-41.
About two-fifths of children are expected to live in a
cohabiting household at some point.
- U.S. Census Bureau, 2000
55% of different-sex cohabitors get married within 5 years
of moving in together. 40% break up within that same time period. About 10%
remain in an unmarried relationship five years or longer.
- Smock, Pamela (2000). "Cohabitation in the United States." Annual Review of
Sociology.
About 20% of all male-female cohabitors, or 1.6 million
people, have been living together for more than five years. There is little
known about these long-term unmarrieds because no research has focused on this
subgroup.
- Bumpass, Larry; Sweet, James; and Cherlin, Andrew (1991). "The Role of
Cohabitation in Declining Rates of Marriage." Journal of Marriage and the
Family. 53:913-27.
- Calculation by the Alternatives to Marriage Project
About 75% of cohabitors say they plan to marry their
partners (about 6.2 million people).
- Smock, Pamela (2000). "Cohabitation in the United States." Annual Review of
Sociology.
The majority of couples marrying today have lived together
first (53% of women's first marriages are preceded by cohabitation).
- Bumpass, Larry and Lu, Hsien-Hen (2000). "Trends in Cohabitation and
Implications for Children's Family Contexts in the United States." Population
Studies, 54: 29-41.
In 1995, 24% of women ages 25-34 were cohabiting, compared
to 22% of women ages 35-39, and 15% for women 40-44. In every age category, the
percentages have increased since 1987.
- Bumpass, Larry and Lu, Hsien-Hen (2000). "Trends in Cohabitation and
Implications for Children's Family Contexts in the United States." Population
Studies, 54: 29-41.
The average American spends the majority of his or her life
unmarried.
- Kreider, Rose and Fields, Jason (2002). "Number, Timing, and Duration of
Marriages and Divorces: 1996." Current Population Reports
44% of American adults are currently unmarried (2000 data).
This number has been rising steadily: in 1970 36% of Americans were unmarried;
in 1980 39% of Americans were unmarried; in 1990 41%of Americans were unmarried.
- "Marital Status of the Population 15 Years Old and Over, by Sex and Race: 1950
to Present," U.S. Census Bureau, 2001
In 2000, 31% of men and 25% of women ages 15 and over (the
way the Census counts adults) had never married.
- U.S. Census Bureau, Families and Living Arrangements 2000
Median Age at First Marriage:
Men:
1890: 26.1 years old
1900: 25.9
1910: 25.1
1920: 24.6
1930: 24.3
1940: 24.3
1950: 22.8
1960: 22.8
1970: 23.2
1980: 24.7
1990: 26.1
2000: 26.8
Women:
1890: 22.0 years old
1900: 21.9
1910: 21.6
1920: 21.2
1930: 21.3
1940: 21.5
1950: 20.3
1960: 20.3
1970: 20.8
1980: 22.0
1990: 23.9
2000: 25.1
- Age data from the U. S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports (2000), "Estimated Age at First Marriage"
Marital status of American adults:
Men:
1890: 48% unmarried
1900: 47%
1910: 46%
1920: 42%
1930: 42%
1940: 40%
1970: 34%
1980: 37%
1990: 39%
2000: 42%
Women:
1890: 45% unmarried
1900: 45%
1910: 43%
1920: 41%
1930: 41%
1940: 40%
1950: 34%
1960: 34%
1970: 39%
1980: 41%
1990: 43%
2000: 45%
- Marital status data for 1890 - 1970 from U.S. Census Bureau, Historical Abstracts of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970,Series A 160-171, 1989. Data for 1980 -2000 from U.S. Census Bureau, MS-1. "Marital Status of the Population 15 Years and Over, by Sex and Race: 1950 to Present." 2001.
In a 1995 Harris poll, 90% of people believe society
"should value all types of families."
- Stephanie Coontz, The Way We Really Are: Coming to Terms With America's
Changing Families, 1997
Only one-quarter of American households consist of what
most people think of as a "traditional family": a married couple and their
children.
-"The Emerging 21st Century Family," National Opinion Research Center,
University of Chicago, 1999
45% of people in their twenties believe the government
should not be involved in licensing marriage.
- Gallup survey for the National Marriage Project, The State of Our Unions 2001
More than 1/4 of Americans work for an employer that offers
domestic partner benefits.
- U.S. Census Bureau. County Business Patterns 2000. Washington, D.C.,
2002, p. 3. Society for Human Resource Management. 2002 Benefits Survey.
Alexandria, VA, 2002, p. 6. Calculation by Dorian Solot.
As of September 2001, over 4,200 employers offered domestic
partner health insurance to their employees.
- Human Rights Campaign, 2001
90% of employers that offer domestic partner benefits make
them available to both same-sex and different-sex couples.
- Human Rights Campaign, 2001
43% of people in their twenties believe that cohabiting
couples should receive the same benefits as married couples.
- Gallup survey, The State of Our Unions 2001
We take seriously the accuracy of the information we
provide. If you have a question about a source or find data that doesn't match
ours, please let us know. For instance, here's why our numbers don't match some
other sources about the number of people living with an unmarried partner in the
U.S.
11 million is the number of people who live
with an unmarried partner in the United States, according to the 2000
decennial Census. This number includes members of same-sex and different-sex
couples who told the Census they were "unmarried partners," not roommates, in
the 2000 decennial Census.
5.5 million is the number of unmarried
partner households in the United States, according to the 2000 decennial
Census. Each household contains a couple; therefore, 11 million people.
4.9 million is the number of different-sex
unmarried partner households in the United States, according to the 2000
decennial Census. This number excludes same-sex couples.
9.7 million is the number of people living
with a different-sex unmarried partner in the United States, according to
the 2000 decennial Census. This is double the number of different-sex unmarried
partner households, since each household contains a couple. This number excludes
same-sex couples.
4.7 million is the number of households
containing two different-sex, unmarried people (it's a count based on POSSLQ,
People of the Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters), according to the Census'
2000 Current Population Survey. This number counts households, not people (at
least two unmarried people are in each household). There is no way to know if
the people in the household are roommates or intimate partners. It excludes
same-sex couples.
3.8 million is the number of different-sex
unmarried partner households in the U.S., based on the Census' 2000 Current
Population Survey. This number excludes same-sex partners, and it's a count of
households, not people (there are at least two people in each unmarried partner
household). The Current Population Survey is a smaller annual count which tends
to undercount unmarried partners compared to the major decennial census,
according to Census demograher Jason Fields. This is because it's done by
telephone, with a survey-taker reading the questions. People may feel less
comfortable admitting they are unmarried partners on the phone with a stranger,
compared with filling out a form in the privacy of their home. Also, they may
categorize their relationship before the survey-taker reads the whole list, and
not realize that "unmarried partner" is an option.
Alternatives to Marriage Project
P.O. Box 991010, Boston, MA 02199
phone 781-793-0296 fax 781-394-6625
atmp@unmarried.org
www.unmarried.org
| Probe Answers Our E-Mail
"Where Does the Bible Talk About Unmarried Sex?"I am a single Christian and I do believe in abstaining from sex until marriage. But I have a friend who is also a Christian and is having sex outside of marriage with her boyfriend (both are single). I have always believed that the Bible teaches that you shouldn't have sex outside of marriage, but when I went to look for scriptures that teach this, I couldn't find any. I found plenty about not sleeping with relatives and animals and such, but nothing about unmarried sex. Can you tell me where the Bible teaches that you shouldn't have sex outside of marriage? I typed in the word "premarital sex" on the Probe web site (www.probe.org) and got back 16 matches. I might encourage you to look at my article on "Teen Sexual Revolution" along with the article by Ray Bohlin on "Sexual Purity " and the article by Jerry Solomon and Jimmy Williams on "Why Wait Until Marriage." Perhaps the reason you are having difficulty finding verses on premarital sex is due to the fact that the Bible uses words or phrases like fornication, sexual immorality, or youthful lusts. If you put these terms in a search engine, you will find numerous verses in the Bible dealing with premarital sex. Thanks for writing, and stay pure. Kerby Anderson Ray Bohlin answered: The term fornication, or in more modern translations, sexual immorality, simply refers to all sexual activity outside of marriage. Below is the first paragraph under "fornication" in the Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, 1975, Vol. 2, p. 601: "Four different NT meanings are obvious. 1. In 1 Corinthians 7:2 and 1 Thessalonians 4:3, Paul is warning unmarried people about the temptation to fornication. In both cases fornication refers to voluntary sexual intercourse of an unmarried person with anyone of the opposite sex. The meaning is specific and restricted. In four other passages fornication is used in a list of sins which includes "adultery" (Matt. 15:19; Mark 7:21; 1 Cor. 6:9; Gal. 5:19). Since adultery involves a married person, the meaning of fornication in these passages is specific and restricted, involving unchastity of unmarried people." Later the same entry relates, "Jesus related fornication to adultery when he said "Everyone who looks at a woman lustfully (i.e. with a thought of sexual intercourse) has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matt. 5:28). R. C. H. Lenski interprets the "everyone" to include both men and women and both married and unmarried. Thus Jesus was saying that sexual intercourse of unmarried people (fornication) is as evil as extra-marital sexual intercourse (adultery)." The entry closes with this statement: "Those who state that the NT makes no reference to permarital sex relations and gives no advice on the personal and social problems involved are overlooking the NT use and meaning of the word fornication, esp. in such passages as 1 Corinthians 7:2 and 1 Thessalonians 4:3." Please also note that Paul closes his discussion of sexual immorality in 1 Cor. 7 with verses 8 and 9. "But I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is good for them if they remain even as I (verse 8). But if they do not have self-control, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn (verse 9)." I'd say he felt rather strongly about it. While the Scripture is very clear concerning the immorality and sin of pre-marital sex, these verses also need to be shared with humility and gentleness with the end of restoring a brother and sister in Christ, not driving them away. The truth of God's word convicts on its own. A spirit of judgment can often be counterproductive. Respectfully, Ray Bohlin
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