52% of American Women Are Single... The Number of Women Without Marriage Experience Continues to Rise

26% of Households Led by Single Women
Average Age of First Marriage for Women 28... Increased by 3 Years Over 20 Years

The proportion of unmarried single women in the United States has surpassed half, reaching 52%, marking an all-time high.

On the 8th (local time), The Washington Post (WP) cited a report released by the major financial firm Wells Fargo, stating that the proportion of single women in the U.S. reached 52% in 2021. When the U.S. Census Bureau began tracking marital status in 1900, the proportion of single women was only 7%. WP also reported that the number of women who have never married even once, excluding divorce or widowhood, increased by 20% over the past decade, which has been a major cause of the surge in single-woman households.

Additionally, the proportion of households led by single women reached 26%, indicating that single women are increasingly influential in various sectors of the U.S. economy, including the labor market, housing transactions, and consumption. However, the wage gap between men and women has not narrowed. Last year, the income of unmarried women was only 92% of that of unmarried men. In the U.S., women have recently surpassed men in college admissions and graduates, but the wage gap remains unclosed.

Due to lower income, women's consumption was also less than men's. In 2021, the average consumption expenditure of single women was $39,000 (approximately 51.41 million KRW), which was $2,000 less than the $41,000 spent by single men. Regarding this, Sarah House, an economist at Wells Fargo and the lead author of the report, said, "Single women are filling gaps in a very competitive labor market, but the bad news is that the wage gap between men and women has remained unchanged over the past 15 years," adding, "Because of lower income, single women tend to focus their spending on necessities." She also added, "Single women generally have less wealth, especially those with children."

According to Wells Fargo's report, the median net worth of single women with children in 2019 was $7,000 (approximately 9.25 million KRW), which is only about one-tenth of that of single women without children ($65,000).

Meanwhile, the age at first marriage for American women continues to rise. In 2021, the median age at first marriage for U.S. women was 28, which is three years older than the age of 25 in 2001.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.