Tuesday, August 20, 2002
Census shows increase in happily unmarried Illinois women
A story released today by the Associated Press reports that the U.S. Census Bureau statistics for Illinois released Tuesday showed that the percentage of women who said they had never been married went up in every age category between 1990 and 2000, and increased the most among women ages 25 to 44.
The census figures show that a third of Illinois women ages 25 to 34 had never been married in 2000, up from 28 percent in 1990. Among women ages 35 to 44, 15 percent had never been married in 2000, up from 11 percent in 1990.
Women are waiting longer to marry -- or not marrying at all -- for a variety of reasons, according to Deborah Gentry, professor of family relations at Illinois State University.
Some may be living with their partners. Others may find fulfillment in their careers and a close circle of friends. Still others may have grown up the children of divorce and may shy from marriage or, on the flip side, realize that single parents can be successful.
Women also don't have to rely on men for financial security the way many did in the past, Gentry said, giving them more room to be choosy.
"Now that women are better educated in general and have more work-related opportunities that can bring in significant money, the need to get married isn't there as it has been in the past," she said.
National studies show that men and women are waiting longer to get married, said Roy Treadway, director of census and data user services at Illinois State University.
In 2000, the median age of first marriage for women was 25.1 -- the highest it has ever been, Treadway said. The median age of first-time grooms -- 26.8 in 2000 -- has remained about the same for the past decade.
Part of the reason is that more people are living together before getting married, Treadway said. While some of those couples eventually get married, others never do.
The number of women the census counts as never married also might include lesbians who consider themselves married, even though their unions are not legally recognized.
Despite all the reasons women have for not getting married, most of them eventually do wed, Gentry said.
