The U.S. Census Bureau reports that the percentage of households headed by older adults has grown significantly over the last half century.
The share of householders age 75 and older grew from 6% in 1960 to 10% in 2012.
Other highlights of the report include:
- The number of couples living together without being married i.e. cohabiting, has more than doubled since the 1990s, from 2.9 million in 1996 to 7.8 million in 2012. In 2012, 40% of unmarried partners had children younger than 18.
- The prevalence of married households continued to decline, from more than two-thirds (71%) of all households in 1970 to under half (49%) in 2012.
- The median age at first marriage in 2012 was 28.6 for men and 26.6 for women.