Going It Alone

BIRTH RATES ARE FALLING ACROSS THE GLOBE AS MORE PEOPLE CHOOSE TO BE SINGLE. NEWSWEEK FINDS OUT WHY

- ALYCE COLLINS

WITH FEWER PEOPLE CHOOSING THE TRADITIONAL route of tying the knot and starting a family, it's no secret that the number of marriages and births is declining around the world. As a result, the fertility rate in the U.S. alone is at a historic low of 1.7 births per woman-lower than the 2.1 births needed to maintain a stable population.

Many countries are trying to tackle this by incentivizing couples to have children, but it seems the problem runs deeper-there's been a dramatic uptick in people refraining from relationships altogether and choosing to remain single instead. In 2023, the number of single-person households in the U.S. peaked at 38.1 million, a record high at the time. Additionally, data from Pew Research Center revealed that 42 percent of adults were unpartnered in 2023, with women more likely than men to be single. In 2024, the number of single-person households rose to 38.5 million-29 percent of all U.S. households. For comparison, in 1974, one-person households represented just 19 percent of all households.

What's causing this burgeoning singles movement? Robert VerBruggen, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute and research fellow with the Institute for Family Studies, told Newsweek that, simply put, "single life has become more feasible and attractive" to younger generations.

He believes this cultural shift is a result of people's options expanding, allowing millennials and Generation Zers to feel unafraid of following their own path, rather than the one they may feel has been set for them. Falling birth rates are a symptom of what's been dubbed the "relationship recession," leading to a singles pandemic.

Why Are People Staying Single?