Census Bureau Report Discovers Uptick in Young Women Living Alone or With Parents

The United Census Bureau has released a new report on the demographic profile of households and living arrangements in the United States over the past 50 years. Since the 1970s, women have increasingly started to live alone or with their parents, rather than with a spouse.

The report found the share of households made up of married coupled families has significantly dropped over the past five decades. As of 2022, women aged 18 to 34 are just as likely to live with their parents as they are with their spouse. That being said, the report found men aged 18-34 are more likely to live with their parents than women of the same age.

In 2022, 15.7 percent of all households in the United States consisted of a woman living alone, compared to 11.5 percent in 1970. However, this is largely attributed to women over the age of 65, who are significantly more likely than men of a similar age to live alone due to the longer average life span of women compared to men.

Another notable finding from the report showed that mothers are significantly more likely than fathers to live alone with a child under the age of 18. In 2022, 22.6 percent of mothers lived alone with their child compared to only 6.0 percent of fathers. This trend was greater among Black Americans. Black households were significantly more likely that other groups to be a family household maintained by a woman without a spouse.

The report consists of data from the American Community Survey and the Current Population Survey’s Annual Social and Economic Supplement.