Married? You're a Minority!

Well, now. This is interesting.

Married couples, whose numbers have been declining for decades as a proportion of American households, have finally slipped into a minority, according to an analysis of new census figures by The New York Times.

The American Community Survey, released this month by the Census Bureau, found that 49.7 percent, or 55.2 million, of the nation’s 111.1 million households in 2005 were made up of married couples — with and without children — just shy of a majority and down from more than 52 percent five years earlier.

The numbers by no means suggests marriage is dead or necessarily that a tipping point has been reached. The total number of married couples is higher than ever, and most Americans eventually marry. But marriage has been facing more competition. A growing number of adults are spending more of their lives single or living unmarried with partners, and the potential social and economic implications are profound.

And why is this?

“It’s the legacy of the boomers that have finally caused this tipping point,” Dr. Frey said. “Certainly later generations have followed in boomer footsteps, with high levels of living together before marriage, and more flexible lifestyles. But the boomers were the trailblazers, once again, rebelling against a norm their parents epitomized.

“This would seem to close the book on the Ozzie and Harriet era that characterized much of the last century,” he said.

Those frickin’ Boomers…always upsetting the apple cart. But the comment is nonetheless true. There is absolutely no stigma associated with light housekeeping any longer. Well, that’s not entirely true. The ex-girlfriend adamantly maintained we weren’t living together, even though three drawers of her dresser were filled with my clothes, my toiletries occupied 10% of her medicine cabinet, and my car was parked in her garage every night. But I maintained a separate residence and received my mail there, so, technically, she was right. There was something in her reality that rejected the concept of “living together.” I didn’t have a problem with it, and have often wondered just who she was kidding. Certainly not her friends, family, or her business associates. It was pretty clear what our living arrangements were…

All that said, speaking strictly for YrsTrly, I will not marry again. There’s a possibility, however slight, I may meet someone I want to share life with and if that happens I’ll opt for light housekeeping. My reason, and there’s but one, is I refuse to be a three-time loser. I view two unsuccessful marriages as my greatest failing in life. Three failures would be totally unacceptable. And the 50-50 odds of a successful marriage just don’t cut it with me.