The number of people who are living together and not married has
increased a whopping 72 percent to 5.47 million people in 2000, up from 3.19
million people in 1990, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. What was once taboo
is now going mainstream. And that's not all that has changed, according to the
latest statistics from the 2000 Census. The number of people living alone has
skyrocketed to 26 percent of the entire U.S. population; 40 years ago, just
8 percent lived alone. And for the first time ever, the so-called "typical
American family" (that would be a mommy, daddy, and some children under
the age of 18) now accounts for less than a quarter of the population. Four
decades ago, the nuclear family was 45 percent of the population.
Why the radical shift? First, we're delaying marriage and parenthood.
Second, the divorce rate is up, which is also adding to the number of single
parent families. The American family has changed. All this shifting in who is
living with whom has also changed the average household size. It's now at a
record low of 2.59 people. Here's good news for the older ladies: the number
of men for every 100 women increased to 96.3 in 2000 from 95.1 10 years ago.
It seems that men are starting to live longer, closing the life expectancy gap.
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