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A record number of 40-year-olds in the United States have never been married and most of them live alone, according to a new analysis of data from the US Census Bureau.
The Pew Research Center analyzed data from the 2021 Census Bureau and found that 25% of those age 40 had never been married that year, a sharp increase from 20% in 2010. Many of these individuals lived alone, with only 22 % of never married. married adults ages 40 to 44 who reported living with a romantic partner last year.
The 2021 data marks a new peak in a decades-long trend. The proportion of unmarried 40-year-olds has been steadily increasing since 1980, when only 6% of them were never married.
According to the data, a higher percentage of men than women had never been married, and black 40-year-olds were much more likely to have never been married than Hispanic, white, and Asian 40-year-olds. Education also seemed to play an important factor, as 40-year-olds without a four-year college degree were more likely to never have married than those who had at least a bachelor’s degree.
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Happy newly married couple, left, and sad lonely woman, right (iStock)
“The overall decrease in the proportion of 40-year-olds who to have married is especially notable because the proportion of 40-year-olds who had at least a bachelor’s degree was much higher in 2021 than in 1980 (39% versus 18%),” wrote Richard Fry, a senior researcher for Pew, in A summary of the findings. “More educated 40-year-olds are more likely to be married, but the growth of this group has not reversed the general trend of postponing or forgoing marriage.”
Pew conducted the analysis to examine how marriage rates among 40-year-olds in the U.S. have changed from 1850 to 2021. The data revealed a growing trend of postponing marriage or foregoing marriage altogether among people entering or after the sixties were born.
Pew’s findings echo those of the University of Virginia National Marriage Projecta report last year found that the median age of first marriage has risen over the past 50 years, “from 23 in 1970 to about 30 in 2021 for men, and from 21 in 1970 to 28 in 2021 for women.”
The study found that a later marriage does not necessarily mean a better marriage, reporting that 81% of spouses who married earlier said they were satisfied in their marriage, compared to only 71% of those who married later. As far as women are concerned, 73% of previously married women were satisfied, compared to 70% of later married women.
Fry told CNN that the Pew report focused on 40-year-olds to reflect the fact that adults tend to “take stock of their lives at the start of a new decade of life,” pointing to a link between fertility and marriage. “Some women may want to have children in the context of marriage. Since fertility declines after age 40, 40 is an appropriate age to document marital outcomes.”
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Happy couple walking while guests throw confetti on them during the wedding ceremony. (iStock)
According to Census Bureau data, less than 1 in 5 adults by age 40 had not attempted marriage in all previous generations of American adults.
However, Fry noted in Pew’s analysis that people marry for the first time later in life.
“To be sure, we cannot assume that if someone has not married by age 40, they never will,” he wrote. In fact, about one in four 40-year-olds who were not married in 2001 had done so by age 60. If that pattern continues, a similar proportion of today’s never-married 40-year-olds will marry in the coming decades.”
In a separate report last month, Pew noted that young adults are reaching important life milestones later than previous generations, such as reaching full-time employment, financial independence, independent living and parenthood.
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The report comes amid a decline in US birth and marriage rates that has been going on for decades. Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that just under 3.7 million babies were born in the US last year, about 3,000 fewer than in 2021.
The CDC also found that teen and young female birth rates hit a record low since peaking in 1991. Specifically, the U.S. teen birth rate fell 3% from 2021 to an all-time low last year.
Aaron Kliegman is a political reporter for Fox News Digital.
