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For the first time since the U.S. began tallying marriages, more Americans of prime marrying age have stayed single rather than tied the knot, the culmination of a tectonic shift in the role of marriage and relationships that began in the 1960s.

High divorce rates, rising co-habitation and a tendency to delay marriage are main factors.

Marriage rates among young adults have been dropping for decades. But data released Tuesday by the Census Bureau show that for the first time the proportion of people between the ages of 25 and 34 who have never been married exceeded those who were married in 2009 -- 46.3% versus 44.9%, according to an analysis by Mark Mather, a demographer at the Population Reference Bureau, a non-profit research organization in Washington.

The remainder is a mix of those who have lost spouses and divorcees, who if combined with the unmarried group tilt the balance even further.


With many Americans facing stagnant paychecks and a 9.6% unemployment rate, many more young adults are simply opting to put off marriage until they are better set financially, or foregoing matrimony altogether.

The long-term slide in marriage rates has pushed the proportion of married adults of all ages to 52% in 2009, according to the Census, the lowest share in history. In 1960, 72.2% of adults over 18 were married.

The U.S. began tracking marriage statistics in 1880.

The latest figures on marriage come from the Census' annual American Community Survey, the government's deepest and broadest look at economic, social and demographic trends. The data include estimates on income, housing, education and living standards for all metropolitan areas with populations of 65,000 or more. East Stroudsburg, Pa., for example, had the longest average commute at 38.1 minutes in 2009 -- in part because many workers there commute to the New York City area.

Key West, Fla., had the most-stretched homeowners: Some 61.5% of mortgage holders were spending more than 30% of their income on housing. Ithaca, N.Y., home of Cornell University, was the most highly educated, with 27.2% of its population holding an advanced degree.

The shift in marriage patterns cuts across cities and regions, as well as races and gender. In many big cities, never-married young adults are a strong majority among their peers. In San Francisco, 82% of adults between 25 and 34 had never been married in 2009, the largest share among big U.S. cities. Atlanta, New York and Minneapolis were all among the top 20 U.S. cities with the largest share of never-married young adults, with shares greater than 75%.

With a new company and a busy work schedule, Shauna Mei is in no hurry to get married. Ms. Mei, 27 years old, lives in New York and runs a shopping website. She shares an apartment with her boyfriend, but says she feels no pressure from friends or society to formalize the union with matrimony. 'It's like a rule of thumb: You have to live with them before you decide,' she says. 'Marriage is not something that has to happen.'

The change in marriage habits has been most pronounced among those with less education. Between 2000 and 2010, the share of young adults who are married dropped 10 percentage points to 44% among those who didn't attend college, according to Census data.

Marriage among the same age group who hold bachelor's or more advanced degrees, meanwhile, fell 4 percentage points over that time, to 52%.

This is also a departure from past trends. In the past, college graduates were much more likely to postpone matrimony to focus on their career or further education. Now, a higher proportion of those without four-year degrees are postponing marriage.

A slowdown in marriage rates doesn't mean the end of cohabiting relationships. As marriage rates have fallen, the number of adults living together has skyrocketed, according to Mr. Mather's analysis. Men and women are living together as an alternative or a first step towards matrimony. While marriage has fallen among younger people, the probability of getting married at some point in life still remains at about 90%.

For Joel Gutierrez, 31, early adulthood was a time to date freely and to get his finances in order. Mr. Gutierrez, who lives in San Mateo, Calif., and manages clinical trials for a biotechnology firm, spent much of his 20s going to bars and on dates, and racking up debts. He now has a serious girlfriend, and is certain he will be married eventually. 'I didn't feel like I had everything together when I was still trying to pay off my debt going through my 20s,' he says. 'In that sense I felt like I was still a kid.'

从美国开始统计婚姻数据以来，第一次出现这样一个情况：在处于黄金结婚年龄的人口当中，单身人数首次超过已婚人数。自20世纪60年代起，美国人的婚姻观念和男女关系发生了结构性的转变，单身人数后来居上正是这一趋势发展到顶峰的具体表现。

高离婚率、同居趋势、推迟结婚是单身人数膨胀的主要原因。

数十年来，年轻人的结婚率一直在下降；但美国人口普查局(Census Bureau)2010年9月28日公布的数据显示，在25岁到34岁的人群中，从未结婚的人数首次超过在2009年处于结婚状态的人数──前者占该人群的比例为46.3%，而后者占44.9%。这个数字是由华盛顿一家非盈利研究组织美国人口咨询局(Population Reference Bureau)的人口学家马瑟(Mark Mather)分析得出的。

除上述两类之外的其余人群属于丧偶和离婚者，如果将其与未婚人群合并，则两大阵营的比例将更加失衡。

现在，许多美国人的收入停滞不前，失业率高达9.6%，因此越来越多的年轻人选择推迟结婚，直到经济上准备得更充分一些，或者干脆就不打算结婚了。

美国人口普查局称，结婚率的长期下跌导致2009年的美国已婚人口占比仅为52%，处于历史最低水平。在20世纪60年代，18岁以上的成年人有72.2%处于已婚状态。

美国是从1880年开始记录婚姻数据的。

这些关于婚姻的最新数据来自美国人口普查局每年发布的《美国社区调查》(American Community Survey)，这是美国政府对于经济、社会和人口趋势最深入最广泛的分析报告。形成报告的数据取自人口超过65,000的所有美国城市区域，对居民收入、住房、教育、生活水准等进行估算。举例而言，宾西法尼亚州东斯特劳斯堡(East Stroudsburg)在2009年的上下班平均通勤时间最长，为38.1分钟，部分原因在于居住在那里的很多人要去纽约市区上班。

佛罗里达州基韦斯特市(Key West)的有房一族压力最大：在贷款买房者当中，约有61.5%的人将收入的30%以上用于还贷。康奈尔大学(Cornell University)所在的纽约州伊萨卡市(Ithaca)教育水平最高，27.2%的人口具备高等学历。

婚姻趋势变化超越了城市和地区差异，也不受种族和性别的影响。在很多大城市，从没结过婚的年轻人成为同龄人的主流。2009年，旧金山25岁到34岁的成年人中有82%从未结过婚，在美国各大城市中高居首位，而亚特兰大、纽约和明尼阿波利斯处于该比例最高的前20大城市之列，占比都超过75%。

住在纽约的肖娜•梅(Shauna Mei)今年27岁，经营一家购物网站。由于公司刚刚起步，工作特别繁忙，梅并不急于考虑结婚的事情。她和男朋友同住在一间公寓里，但说自己没有感到朋友和社会在催促她赶紧通过婚姻把关系定下来。“婚前同居很普遍，在决定婚姻大事之前，必须要住在一起试婚。”梅说，“而且结婚并不是一定要发生的事情。”

婚姻观念的变化在那些教育水平不高的人群中最为盛行。据美国人口普查局的数字，从2000年到2010年，没上过大学的已婚年轻人占比下跌10个百分点，为44%。

与此形成对比的是，在同一年龄组中，大学学历以上的已婚年轻人占比同期下跌4%，为52%。

也有一些情况与历史趋势不同。以往，大学毕业生更有可能推迟结婚，以便把注意力集中在事业发展或进一步深造方面；但现在，没有读过四年大学的人群推迟结婚的情况更普遍。

结婚率下降并不意味着男女同居关系告终。据马瑟的研究，由于结婚率降低，成年人的同居人数大幅增加。同居已成为婚姻的替代品，或是走入婚姻殿堂的第一步。虽然年轻人的结婚率下降，但他们在人生某一个阶段选择婚姻的可能性依然保持在90%左右。

对31岁的乔尔•古迪埃瑞兹(Joel Gutierrez)来说，青春岁月就是一段随心所欲谈恋爱和赚钱还债的日子。他住在加州圣马特奥市(San Mateo)，为一家生物科技公司处理临床试验。20多岁时，他把都花在泡吧和约会上，为此欠了不少债务。现在，他已经有了一个正式交往的女朋友，最后也肯定会选择婚姻。“20多岁的我忙着还钱，觉得一切都还没有安定下来。”他说，“从某种程度上说，我觉得那时的自己还是个孩子。”