Number Of Married Couples Falls

The percentage of households made up of couples living in holy matrimony continues to drop in the 1990s, the Census Bureau reported today.

Married couples with or without children made up 53.7 percent of the 99.6 million households in the country last year, dropping from the 56.0 percent reported in 1990, according to the bureau. In 1980, married couples made up 60.8 percent of the nation’s households, while they made up 70.5 percent of them in 1970.

The bureau reported little change in the share of Americans living alone. The number of one-person households was 24.9 percent last year, up slightly from 24.6 percent in 1990. In 1970, just 6.8 percent of Americans lived alone. The number grew steadily as young people remained single longer to finish school and start careers.