“National Singles Week” was started by the Buckeye Singles Council in Ohio in the 1980s to celebrate single life and recognize singles and their contributions to society. The week is now widely observed during the third full week of September (September 18-24 in 2011) as “Unmarried and Single Americans Week,” an acknowledgment that many unmarried Americans do not identify with the word “single” because they are parents, have partners or are widowed. Here are some facts about singles from the U.S. Census Bureau:
99.6 million: Number of unmarried people in America 18 and older in 2010. This group comprised 43.6% of all U.S. residents 18 and older.
44.9%: Percentage of unmarried U.S. residents America 18 and older who were women.
61%:
Percentage of unmarried U.S. residents 18 and older who had never been
married. Another 23.8% were divorced, and 14.4% were widowed.
16.4 million: Number of unmarried U.S. residents 65 and older. The elderly comprised 16.5% of all unmarried and single people 18 and older.
88: Number of unmarried men 18 and older for every 100 unmarried women in the United States.
59.1 million: Number of households maintained by unmarried men or women. These households comprised 45% of households nationwide.
31.4 million: Number of people who lived alone. They comprised 27% of all households, up from 17% in 1970.
35%: Percentage of women age 15 to 50 with a birth in the last 12 months, as of 2009, who were widowed, divorced or never married.
11.7 million:
Number of single parents living with their children in 2010. Of these,
9.9 million were single mothers and 1.8 million were single fathers.
792,000:
Number of unmarried grandparents who were caregivers for their
grandchildren in 2009. They comprised about three in 10 grandparents who
were responsible for their grandchildren.
393: The number of dating service establishments nationwide as
of 2007. These establishments, which include Internet dating services,
employed nearly 3,125 people and generated $928 million in revenues. 
