unmarried and single Americans week: really?

I have much to say about how silly the Census Bureau is. One thing they are adorable for: giving each demographic a little pat on the head, from time to time. This week: unmarried and single Americans.

Unmarried and Single Americans Week

Sept. 18-24, 2011

“National Singles Week” was started by the Buckeye Singles Council 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. 18-24 in 2011) 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 edition of Facts for Features, unmarried people include those who were never married, widowed, or divorced, unless otherwise noted.

99.6 million
Number of unmarried people in America 18 and older in 2010. This group comprised 43.6 percent of all U.S. residents 18 and older.

44.9%
Percentage of unmarried U.S. residents America 18 and older who were women.

61%
Percentage of unmarried U.S. residents 18 and older who had never been married. Another

23.8 percent were divorced, and 14.4 percent were widowed.

16.4 million
Number of unmarried U.S. residents 65 and older. The elderly comprised 16.5 percent of all unmarried and single people 18 and older.

88
Number of unmarried men 18 and older for every 100 unmarried women in the
United States. (Side article from New York Times: "Single, Female and Desperate No More")

59.1 million
Number of households maintained by unmarried men or women. These households comprised
45 percent of households nationwide.

31.4 million
Number of people who lived alone. They comprised 27 percent of all households, up from 17 percent in 1970.

6.5 million
Number of unmarried-partner households in 2009. Of this number, 581,300 were same-sex households.

393
The number of dating service establishments nationwide as of 2007. These establishments, which include Internet dating services, employed nearly 3,125 people and generated $928 million in revenues.

85%
Percentage of unmarried people 25 and older in 2010 who had a high school diploma or more.

25%
Percentage of unmarried people 25 and older in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree or more education.

http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/pdf/cb11ff-19_unmarried.pdf