Marriage rates in the U.S. have fallen to their lowest level on record, according to data out yesterday (April 29th) from the National Center for Health Statistics. Marriages fell six percent in 2018, with 6.5 new marriages formed out of every 1,000 people, the lowest rate since the federal government started keeping records of marriage data in 1867.
The report’s lead author, statistician Sally Curtin, told The Wall Street Journal, “Millennials are in peak marriage years, their 20s and 30s, and it’s still dropping. This is historic.” In 1970, about 70 percent of adults lived with a spouse, a percentage that had dropped to just over half in 2019. By comparison, nearly seven percent identified as living with a partner last year, compared to less than one percent in 1970.
