The share of those living with a spouse has slumped
The changing picture of American households has been highlighted in a new report from Apartment List.
While 76% of 26-year-olds were married and living with a spouse 50 years ago, in 2018 this share had slumped to just 24% and there were 300,000 more 26-year-olds living with their parents than a spouse. Those living with unmarried partners and roommates is also rising.
As the nuclear family becomes less common across the US; the report shows that they are declining in 20 of the nation’s 25 largest metro areas; while the number of US households where non-related families are living under the same roof have more than doubled since the Great Recession.
Nationally, young adults today are 46% more likely to live with a parent than in 2007, 32% more likely to move in with a partner before getting married, and 19% more likely to have a non-family roommate. Millennial housing decisions are a key force driving changes in the American household.
Since 2007, there has also been a rise of almost 15% in the number of single-person households, reaching 31,132,040 in 2018.
Apartment List’s analysis concludes that as rents rise and stigmas surrounding certain types of households dissipates, the trends seen in the report will likely continue to rise.
