Solo Americans

After nearly two decades of free-fall decline, are more traditional American values making a comeback? According to a mid-decade report on American household characteristics issued last week by the U.S. Census Bureau, the signals are mixed. While some experts believe that families are stabilizing, the average household size continues to decline and the number of people living alone is up dramatically.

On the surface, at least, the census statistics continue to show a dramatic deterioration in orthodox marriages. Between 1970 and this year, the share of married couples among the nation’s 86.8 million households fell from 70.5% to 58%, replaced by an explosion of single people living alone. Some 20.6 million Americans now live by themselves, a 90% jump in one-person households over 15 years. Much of this is due to widowhood or divorce, as is the near doubling since 1970 of single people who head households. Single-parent families now account for 14.3% of U.S. households.

Younger people are staying single by postponing marriage. Couples are taking their vows more than two years later on average than they were just 15 years ago: the median marriage age is 23.3 years for women, highest in U.S. history, and 25.5 for men, just below the 26.1-years average at the turn of the century. High rents are also forcing young adults to remain at home. Among 18- to 24-year-olds, 62% of men and 47% of women still live with their parents–a mixed blessing that neither parents nor restive children may prefer. “Home is where the cheap eats are,” notes Census Bureau Demographer Steve Rawlings. “The nest isn’t emptying as it once did.”

Some experts see such reversals as signs of a mini-revival of family life. The divorce rate, which doubled from 1950 to 1982, has leveled off, though it still hits 1 of every 2 U.S. marriages. “People may be taking marriage more seriously,” suggests Barbara Wilson, a federal demographer. Similarly, the number of unmarried couples living together has stabilized. After soaring from 523,000 in 1970 to 1,988,000 last year, the out-of-wedlock cohort actually declined slightly in this year’s survey. Demographers attribute this mostly to economic and age factors. Said Author Bryant Robey: “It’s not a case of new morality. As the baby-boom generation gets older, it slows down the trend for unmarrieds living together.”

The social legacy of two decades of change will continue to show its effects, demographers say. The older median marriage age translates into fewer children and a diminished demand for schools. The decrease in household size–from an average 3.14 people in 1970 to 2.69 this year–has fueled a prolonged boom in apartment rentals, health clubs and upscale restaurants, and a corresponding, disturbing decline in the national savings rate. The single life is more expensive, notes Economist George Sternlieb of Rutgers University: “There’s nobody to share the telephone bill with. With no one to cook at home, singles eat out more.” Restaurants now pocket 40% of U.S. food expenditures.

Baby boomers tend to play more roles than did most of their predecessors. In 1940, notes Census Bureau Demographer Art Norton, “there were fewer important life-course events in American living. People got married at 21, finished child-bearing at 31, had a spouse die at 64 and lived alone after that.” Now an individual may experiment with independent living, live as part of an unmarried couple, get married and divorced a number of tunes, live with children without a spouse. Says Norton: “There are all kinds of new transition points.” Yet the rate of change has leveled off, and Norton thinks the U.S. is entering a period of relative stability. Other experts, noting such diverse signs as a rise in patriotism, improvement in aptitude-test scores and disenchantment with sexual promiscuity, tend to agree. Says Sociologist Amitai Etzioni of George Washington University: “People are tired of experimentation. This is the beginning of an age of reconstruction.” –By David Beckwith. Reported by Patricia Delaney/Washington