51% of Women Are Now Living Without Spouse

uscitizen

uscitizen

Villified User
January 16, 2007
51% of Women Are Now Living Without Spouse
By SAM ROBERTS

For what experts say is probably the first time, more American women are living without a husband than with one, according to a New York Times analysis of census results.

In 2005, 51 percent of women said they were living without a spouse, up from 35 percent in 1950 and 49 percent in 2000.

Coupled with the fact that in 2005 married couples became a minority of all American households for the first time, the trend could ultimately shape social and workplace policies, including the ways government and employers distribute benefits.

Several factors are driving the statistical shift. At one end of the age spectrum, women are marrying later or living with unmarried partners more often and for longer periods. At the other end, women are living longer as widows and, after a divorce, are more likely than men to delay remarriage, sometimes delighting in their newfound freedom.

In addition, marriage rates among black women remain low. Only about 30 percent of black women are living with a spouse, according to the Census Bureau, compared with about 49 percent of Hispanic women, 55 percent of non-Hispanic white women and more than 60 percent of Asian women.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/16/us/16census.html?ei=5065&en=fd431ee3a6bf026f&ex=1169528400&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print
 
Idoubt there is any going back either.

This trend will just grow.

I know quite afew families where the chick earns more than the guy.

The US is going to trend even more liberal in the future
 
Yeah my Ex made more than I did, but then she quit because the job stressed her out too much. No concern for my stress level resulting from this at all.
 
I know many conservative families where the "chick" makes more than the "dude". The idea that it is some sort of liberal phenomena or event is simply laughable.
 
uscitizen said:
I guess it is a conservative thing for over half of the women to be unmarried ?
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It depends. There are divorces among conservatives as well as democrats. The idea that a woman living alone is a sign of liberalness can also be foolish. My mother lived sans spouse for many a year after the divorce... She is VERY not liberal.

So, considering that there are many circumstances that cause divorce, and that it crosses partisan lines, that they may want to stay unmarried longer doesn't mean that they are magically turned liberal. However I was addressing Desh's point that the women make more than the men therefore the US was going to be more liberal.

First, it will be regardless. Conservatism is an idea to slow progress, not stop it entirely. So to be successful they simply need to keep it from being an all out overturn in a very few years...

Secondly, the idea that a man marries a woman because she makes less if he is "conservative" is simply ridiculous. Many conservative men have married women that are both worth more and make more than they do.
 
Damocles said:
It depends. There are divorces among conservatives as well as democrats. The idea that a woman living alone is a sign of liberalness can also be foolish. My mother lived sans spouse for many a year after the divorce... She is VERY not liberal.

So, considering that there are many circumstances that cause divorce, and that it crosses partisan lines, that they may want to stay unmarried longer doesn't mean that they are magically turned liberal.
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Neither does the circumstance have any particular negative implication for society. Not that you're suggesting that it does: I'm simply anticipating the inevitable. ;)
 
uscitizen said:
No it does not magically turn anyone liberal. But the trend is not a conservative thing.
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Once again, "conservative" is an idea to slow progression, not to stop it. To say that the "US will be more liberal" is simply a disingenuous bumpersticker.

Her idea was that she "knew many relationships where the chick earned more than the dude" therefore the US will be more liberal.

I simply pointed out that women making more than men is not a liberal phenomena. Conservative men have married women who make more than they do or who are worth more than they are before, and will in the future and that I know some myself. This is not a sign that the US will be "more liberal".
 
Damocles said:
Once again, "conservative" is an idea to slow progression, not to stop it. To say that the "US will be more liberal" is simply a disingenuous bumpersticker.

Her idea was that she "knew many relationships where the chick earned more than the dude" therefore the US will be more liberal.

I simply pointed out that women making more than men is not a liberal phenomena. Conservative men have married women who make more than they do or who are worth more than they are before, and will in the future and that I know some myself. This is not a sign that the US will be "more liberal".
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I suspect that what he meant was not that the U.S. population is becoming more liberal, but rather that this is a trend of which conservatives are going to disapprove.
 
uscitizen said:
Actually Ornot, Desh brought up the liberal thing and Damo jumped on it.
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Oh yes, so she did. I tend to read the first and last posts in these threads and skim over the ones in the middle. Sometimes the strategy lets me down. :)

I still think that this is just the sort of thing that's going to provoke a certain amount of empty bloviation and hand wringing on the far right, but not much else.
 
uscitizen said:
What will this trend if it keeps growing mean to the USA ?
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single women vote overwhelmingly democratic. I've even heard Rush Limbaugh squeeling like a stuck pig, over this statistic.

I think there's many reasons for it - but, it's a statistical fact.
 
uscitizen said:
What will this trend if it keeps growing mean to the USA ?
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[shrugs] Not much, really. Marriage is being redefined constantly anyway, despite all the loud assertions about "traditional" definitions. There will need to be changes to tax laws, I suppose, and ways for unmarried couples to secure their rights with respect to one another.
 
I think it will undoubtably have some impacts on tax structures, and other aspects of our society. Has the marriage penalty contributed any to this trend ?

It sure blows the heck out of the far rights "family values" rhetoric.
but then you mentioned the wringing and bloviation ;)
 
Unmarried couples are technically sex offenders in a couple of states that outlaw all cohabitation, regardless of same sex or not.
 
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