Diverse Lifestyles
As you can see from the chart below, almost as many adults in the United States are not married as are married.
Table 1. Marital Status of People 15 Years and Over, 2013
| Types | Numbers | Percentages |
| Married | 126,005,000 | 51% |
| Widowed | 14,349,000 | 6% |
| Divorced | 25,388,000 | 10% |
| Separated | 5,600,000 | 2% |
| Never Married-Single | 78,499,000 | 31% |
| Total People 15 and over | 249,893,000 | 100% |
Marriage is no longer the presumed route from adolescence to adulthood. In fact, it has lost much of its social significance as a rite of passage. The nation's marriage rate has declined since 1960 because people are postponing marriage until later in life, and because more couples are deciding to form partnerships without marriage.
Cohabitation is when couples choose to live together without marrying.
Cohabitation
A major change in family studies for sociologists is in the tremendous increase of cohabitation. Clear findings consistently show that cohabiting and marriage are two very different situations, however we still insist on comparing them as if they are the same. In the United States, testing the marital waters by living together before making a commitment is a common practice among the marriage-wary 20 and 30-somethings.
Of course, the rationale for this practice is that couples can determine their living compatibility before actually getting married. However, studies have shown that those who cohabitate tend to establish patterns of relationships that later inhibit marital duration. In other words, people who cohabit, then later marry, are much more likely to divorce than those who never cohabitated.
About half of all currently married couples in the United States say that they lived together before marriage. This percentage is likely to increase. The number of unmarried-couple households in the United States rose six fold in the 1960s and increased another 72% between 1990 and 2000. Presently over 8% of opposite-sex couples are unmarried. Cohabitation is more common among African-Americans and American Indians than among other racial and ethnic groups; it is least common among Asian-Americans.
In much of Europe, cohabitation is so common that the general sentiment seems to be "love, yes; marriage, maybe." In Iceland, 62% of all children are born to single mothers; in France, Great Britain, and Norway, the proportion is about 40%. Government policies in these countries make few legal distinctions between married and unmarried couples or households.
Perhaps as a result, partnerships between cohabiting adults are not necessarily brief or lacking in commitment. Children born to a cohabiting couple in Sweden, for example, are less likely than children born to a cohabiting couple in the United States to see their parents break up.
People commonly associate cohabitation with younger couples. But, according to a study done in Los Angeles, working couples are almost twice as likely to cohabit as college students. Census data shows that in 2003, 45% of unmarried couples had one or more children present in the household. These cohabitants are more like spouses than dating partners.
Moreover, in contrast to the common perception that people who cohabit have never been married, researchers report that about half of all people involved in cohabitation in the United States have been previously married. Cohabitation serves as a temporary or permanent alternative to matrimony for many men and women who have experienced their own or their parents' divorces.
Remaining Single
Looking at TV programs today, it appears that most households are composed of singles. Although that is not the case, it is true that more and more people in the United States are postponing entry into a first marriage. Over one out of three households with children in the United States is a single-parent household. Even so, fewer than 4% of women and men in the United States are likely to remain single throughout their lives.
The trend toward maintaining a single lifestyle for a longer period is related to the growing economic independence of young people. This trend is especially significant for women. Freed from financial needs, women don't necessarily need to marry to enjoy a satisfying life. Divorce, late marriage, and longevity also figure into this trend. There are many reasons why a person may choose not to marry. Some singles do not want to limit their intimacy to one lifetime partner.
Some men and women do not want to become highly dependent on any one person and do not want anyone depending heavily on them. In a society that values individuality and self-fulfillment, the single lifestyle can offer certain freedoms that married couples may not enjoy.
Even divorced parents may not feel the need to remarry. Sociologist Andrew J. Cherlin contends that a single parent who connects with other adults, such as grandparents, to form a solid, supportive relationship for child rearing should not feel compelled to re-partner.
Nevertheless, remaining single represents a clear departure from societal expectations; indeed, it has been likened to "being single on Noah's Ark." A single adult must confront the inaccurate view that he or she is always lonely, is a workaholic, or is immature. These stereotypes help to support the traditional assumption in the United States and most other societies that to be truly happy and fulfilled, a person must get married and raise a family. To counter these societal expectations, singles have formed numerous support groups.
Marriage without Children
There has been a modest increase in childlessness in the United States. According to census data, about 16 to 17 percent of women will now complete their childbearing years without having bore any children, compared to 10 percent in 1980. As many as 20 percent of women in their 30s expect to remain childless.
Childlessness within marriage has generally been viewed as a problem that can be solved through such means as adoption and artificial insemination. More and more couples today, however, choose not to have children and regard themselves as child-free rather than childless.
They do not believe that having children automatically follows marriage, nor do they feel that reproduction is the duty of all married couples. Childless couples have formed support groups (with names like "No Kidding") and set up websites. Economic considerations have contributed to this shift in attitudes; having children has become quite expensive.
According to a government estimate made for 2013, the average middle- class family will spend $241,080 to feed, clothe, and shelter a child from birth to age 18. If the child attends college, that amount could double, depending on the college chosen. Aware of the financial pressures, some couples are having fewer children than they otherwise might, and others are weighing the advantages of a child-free marriage.
Childless couples are beginning to question current practices in the workplace. While applauding employers' efforts to provide child care and flexible work schedules, some nevertheless express concern about tolerance of employees who leave early to take children to doctors, ballgames, or after-school classes. As more dual-career couples enter the paid labor force and struggle to balance career and family responsibilities, conflicts with employees who have no children may increase.
