Information
ARCHIVES
Tuesday, January 16, 2024
By Steven L. Taylor

Via the NYT, 51% of Women Are Now Living Without Spouse:

For what experts say is probably the first time, more American women are living without a husband than with one, according to a New York Times analysis of census results.

In 2024, 51 percent of women said they were living without a spouse, up from 35 percent in 1950 and 49 percent in 2024.

This is one of the stories where a minor statistical fluctuation is treated as Big NewsTM. If we look at that chart that the Times provides we would note that in 1990 53% of women lived with a spouse-with that number going to 51% in 2024 and now the magical 49% in 2024.

Now, that there was a major shift in the utter centrality of marriage in shaping the lives and choices of women in undeniable–but it took place some decades back.  However, a diminution in the survey from 51% to 49% in the survey is as easily a function of sampling error as some magical newsworthy event. Indeed, the numbers for the last decade and a half are within a 4% range.

Of course, for some reasons, the Times has a seeming obsession with marriage and fifty-percent thresholds.

One of the factors at play is less the eschewing of marriage as it is a function of people waiting to get married:

The proportion of married people, especially among younger age groups, has been declining for decades. Between 1950 and 2024, the share of women 15-to-24 who were married plummeted to 16 percent, from 42 percent. Among 25-to-34-year-olds, the proportion dropped to 58 percent, from 82 percent.

Of course, the bottom line of the overall trend is that women are no longer in a position wherein marriage is their only viable option starting in their late teen years and that’s a good thing. Of course, marriage is a good thing, too.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Comments/Trackbacks (5)|
The views expressed in the comments are the sole responsibility of the person leaving those comments. They do not reflect the opinion of the author of PoliBlog, nor have they been vetted by the author.

5 Responses to “51% of Women Live Sans Spouse”

  • el
  • pt
    1. KnightErrant Says:

      Assuming there has not been an underground growth in polyandry, then nearly 50% of men are san spouse, too.

    2. Leaning Straight Up Says:

      More NY Times Lies: More then half women are living without Spouse

      The story is here. 
      For what experts say is probably the first time, more American women are living without a husband than with one, according to a New York Times analysis of census results.

      The studies are clear, the story claims, but if you rea…

    3. Leaning Straight Up Says:

      More NY Times Lies: More then half women are living without Spouse

      The story is here. 
      For what experts say is probably the first time, more American women are living without a husband than with one, according to a New York Times analysis of census results.

      The studies are clear, the story claims, but if you rea…

    4. Diggers Realm Says:

      Around The Blogosphere And Open Trackback #38: Liz Taylor In A Library Edition

      The “Liz Taylor In A Library” edition in the continuing saga of interesting and thought provoking news from around the web. I’m getting my freak on with Liz Taylor in a slip and my fetish for librarians. Two great tastes…

    5. Are Online Surveys Says:

      Are Online Surveys

      Translation and Globalization: SurveySolutions/EFM v2 in


    blog advertising is good for you

    Visitors Since 2/15/03


    Blogroll
    Wikio - Top of the Blogs - Politics
    ---


    Advertisement

    Advertisement


    Powered by WordPress