Unmarried and single Americans week: Sept. 17-23, 2017

The Buckeye Singles Council started “National Singles Week” 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. 1723 in 2017) 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. In this feature, unmarried people include those who were never married, widowed or divorced, unless otherwise noted.

Single Life

110.6 million The number of unmarried people in America age 18 and older in 2016. This group made up 45.2 percent of all U.S. residents age 18 and older. 53.2 percent The percentage of unmarried U.S. residents age 18 and older who were women in 2016; 46.8 percent were men. 63.5 percent The percentage of unmarried U.S. residents age 18 and older in 2016 who had never been married. Another 23.1 percent were divorced and 13.4 percent were widowed. 19.5 million The number of unmarried U.S. residents age 65 and older in 2016. These seniors made up 17.7 percent of all unmarried people age 18 and older. 88 The number of unmarried men age 18 and older for every 100 unmarried women in the United States in 2016. 59.8 million The number of households maintained by unmarried men and women in 2016. These households comprised 47.6 percent of households nationwide. 35.4 million The number of people who lived alone in 2016. They comprised 28.1 percent of all households, up from 17.1 percent in 1970.

Parenting

35.7 percent The percentage of women ages 15 to 50 with a birth in the last 12 months, as of 2015, who were widowed, divorced or never married. 37.5 percent The percentage of opposite- sex, unmarried-partner couples in 2016 that lived with at least one biological child of either partner. 790,103 The number of unmarried grandparents who were responsible for most of the basic care of a co-resident grandchild in 2015; 30.7 percent of co-resident grandparents responsible for their grandchildren were unmarried.

Unmarried Couples

7.3 million The number of unmarriedpartner households in 2015. Of this number, 433,539 were samesex households.

Voters

39.6 percent The percentage of voters in the 2016 presidential election who were unmarried.

Education

87.5 percent The percentage of unmarried people age 25 and older in 2016 who had completed high school or more education. 27.6 percent The percentage of unmarried people age 25 and older in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree or more education.