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Comment by GalenErso | Hacker News Reader

You're not alone (pun intended). Record numbers of Americans, men and women alike, are single.

> Nearly 118 million Americans, or about 46% of those over 18 years old, are single, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. But that percent is actually much higher for women—a record-breaking 52% of them are unmarried or separated as of 2021, according to a recent report from Wells Fargo Economics.

https://fortune.com/2023/03/18/record-number-american-women-...

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Does that article use “single” to mean someone who isn’t married? Because that leaves out a lot of partnered people.

Pew reports 31% of Americans are unpartnered, and of those, half are looking and half aren’t: https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2020/08/20/a-profi...

An equal share of men and women are single (31%), but among 18-29 year olds, 51% of men are single, while only 32% of women are. What gives? People don't necessarily partner with people in their age group (e.g. a 27 yo woman partnered with a 31 yo man), but that's not enough to explain the gap, is it?

Could be women in that age group dating outside of that age group? And/or more lesbians in couples than gay men?

Over a 12-year age cohort, 19% more men are single. That could be explained by women in relationships being 2.28 years younger on average. Seems about right to me. Of course, older women are more likely to be single (widowed, divorced, or separated) but many of those are in same-sex relationships which are becoming more common.

"single" and "unmarried or separated" are very different things?!

Data is from the US Census which has a narrow view of relationships.

Can't read the article due to their paywall but your quote makes it sound like unmarried and single is the same thing, which strikes me as an outlandish assumption in this day and age. Surely there are lots and lots of unmarried couples as well?

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