“Barely half of all adults in the United States–a record low–are currently married, and the median age at first marriage has never been higher for brides (26.5 years) and grooms (28.7),” according to a recent analysis of U.S. Census data by the Pew Research Center.  Compared to 72% of Americans aged 18 and older who were married in 1960, today just 51% are married.
The results are similar for Catholics.  A CARA Report (Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate) on Catholic marriage patterns that 53% of adult Catholics were married, 25% had never married, 12% were divorced, 5% widowed, 4% living with a partner, and 1% separated from their spouse.  Moreover, there were 8.6 marriages in the Church per 1,000 Catholics in 1972, but only 2.6 per 1,000 last year.
–“Barely Half of U.S. Adults Are Married–A Record Low: New Marriages Down 5% from 2009 to 2010,” released December 14, 2011, appears on the website of the Pew Research Center (www.pewresearch.org).