Record number of US 40-year-olds never married

[Michie]

(OSV News) — A recent analysis shows 25% of 40-year-olds in the U.S. have never been married — a record high — and may indicate “the closing of the American heart,” according to W. Bradford Wilcox, a sociologist at the University of Virginia and director of the National Marriage Project.

“More and more Americans are headed toward a kinless future, without either a spouse or children of their own,” Wilcox told OSV News. “This particular statistic … is just one more manifestation of the fact that fewer adults are putting a ring on it.”

The Pew Research Center published the statistic and related demographic analysis June 28 after examining 2021 U.S. Census Bureau data. Pew disaggregated the data by sex, race and education. It showed that more men (28%) than women (22%) had never married by 40; that more Blacks (46%) than Hispanics (27%), whites (20%) or Asians (17%) had never married by 40; and that more people with a high school education or less (33%) had never married by 40, contrasted to people with some college (26%) or a bachelor’s degree or higher (18%)

Continued below.

Record number of US 40-year-olds never married

A recent analysis shows 25% of 40-year-olds in the U.S. have never been married -- a record high -- and may indicate "the closing of the American heart," according to W. Bradford Wilcox, a sociologist at the University of Virginia and director of the National Marriage Project." More and more...

www.oursundayvisitor.com

 

[Hank77]

(OSV News) — A recent analysis shows 25% of 40-year-olds in the U.S. have never been married — a record high — and may indicate “the closing of the American heart,” according to W. Bradford Wilcox, a sociologist at the University of Virginia and director of the National Marriage Project.

“More and more Americans are headed toward a kinless future, without either a spouse or children of their own,” Wilcox told OSV News. “This particular statistic … is just one more manifestation of the fact that fewer adults are putting a ring on it.”

The Pew Research Center published the statistic and related demographic analysis June 28 after examining 2021 U.S. Census Bureau data. Pew disaggregated the data by sex, race and education. It showed that more men (28%) than women (22%) had never married by 40; that more Blacks (46%) than Hispanics (27%), whites (20%) or Asians (17%) had never married by 40; and that more people with a high school education or less (33%) had never married by 40, contrasted to people with some college (26%) or a bachelor’s degree or higher (18%)

Continued below.

Record number of US 40-year-olds never married

A recent analysis shows 25% of 40-year-olds in the U.S. have never been married -- a record high -- and may indicate "the closing of the American heart," according to W. Bradford Wilcox, a sociologist at the University of Virginia and director of the National Marriage Project." More and more...

www.oursundayvisitor.com

Are any of those 40s that aren't married living with a partner like a young Hawn and Russell couple?
They've been together 39 yrs, and never legally married.

 

[Michie]

Are any of those 40s that aren't married living with a partner like a young Hawn and Russell couple?
They've been together 39 yrs, and never legally married.

Living together is not approved of the the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church is interested in marriage.

Cohabitation alone doesn’t explain the rise. According to Pew, most never married 40-to-44-year-olds in 2022 reported not living with a romantic partner — only 22% of them reported cohabitating.

In 1900, 16% of 40-year-olds had never been married, and over the century that share declined to 6% in 1980, when it began to rise again, reaching a milestone 20% in 2010 before jumping to 25% in 2021.

Singles in parishes​

The U.S. Census Bureau data — and the underlying situation — flags a ministry need for singles the church often struggles to meet, said Anastasia Northrop, director of the National Catholic Singles Conference. Singles can feel ignored by typical parish ministries, especially if they no longer fit in the “young adult” category, she said.

Among single Catholics, Northrop, 46, sees men and women who are interested in marriage but haven’t found a spouse, and others who aren’t interested in marriage. She said key reasons Catholics aren’t marrying include making a career core to one’s identity, which also can make motherhood appear unfulfilling for women; a desire for one’s own comfort and protection from a broken heart; the availability of sexual intimacy outside of marriage; pervasive individualism; commodification of the person through the perception of endless or unrealistic choices for partners, exacerbated by dating apps; and the idea that relationships shouldn’t require sacrifice or struggle.

Wesseln’s approach with the San Diego Catholic Adult Community tracks with Wilcox’s recommendations for how religious and cultural institutions can address the rising share of singles — both by creating opportunities for marriage-minded singles to find a spouse, and to integrate all singles into community.

For Catholics, “we have to be more intentional about creating intergenerational and small-group activities that integrate Catholic families or Catholic singles,” Wilcox said, “so that people who are single, often through no deliberate choice of their own, can be incorporated into the other forms of community and in the Church.”

 

[mourningdove~]

“More and more Americans are headed toward a kinless future, without either a spouse or children of their own,” Wilcox told OSV News. “This particular statistic … is just one more manifestation of the fact that fewer adults are putting a ring on it.”

That's very sad.
Married life can be a wonderful thing, when you are married to the right person.

And so many are not having children. I heard yesterday about a movement called "Stop Having Kids".
So sad.

 

[Love365]

If you want women to feel more comfortable getting married,
women priests might help.

 

[Michie]

If you want women to feel more comfortable getting married,
women priests might help.

You’re weirdly hilarious.

 

[Michie]

A recent Pew survey found that just 30% of marriage-age Millennials live with a spouse and a child, compared with 70% of those from the Silent Generation.

Continued below.

Experts Speculate on Why Marriage is Declining — And What to Do About It

A recent Pew survey found that just 30% of marriage-age Millennials live with a spouse and a child, compared with 70% of those from the Silent Generation.

www.ncregister.com

 

[Love365]

Women priests could be matchmakers.

Women are having fewer babies because…

Pregnant women face workplace discrimination.

 

[Michie]

Women priests could be matchmakers.

Women are having fewer babies because…

Pregnant women face workplace discrimination.

Uh huh…