A recent article in the New York Times caught our attention. The Times analyzed census data, a feat that should be applauded in and of itself! However, we digress. Their analysis looked at data regarding the percentage of women in the United States who are married and single. The results are very interesting. In 1950, 35% of women were living alone. In 2000, 49% of women were living alone. In 2005, 51% of women were living alone!The reasons for this are many and varied. For instance, women are living longer as widows, are less likely to remarry after a divorce, and are living with a partner to whom they are not married. Prof. Stephanie Coontz, Director of Public Education for the Council on Contemporary Families, is quoted as stating, “Americans now spend half of their adult lives outside of marriage.” Coontz states that this phenomena is unprecedented in our society with the possible exception of major wartime mobilizations and when African American couples were separated during slavery. William H. Frey, a demographer with the Brookings Institution described the shift as “a clear tipping point, reflecting the culmination of post-1960 trends associated with greater independence and more flexible lifestyles for women.” He goes on, “For many older boomer and senior women, the institution of marriage did not hold the promise they might have hoped for, growing up in the ‘Ozzie and Harriet’ era.”On the other hand, 53% of men are living with their spouse. Frey states that this is because “women continue to outlive men, they have reached a non-marital tipping point - more non-married than married.”In addition, the data demonstrates that the proportion of married people, especially among younger age groups, has been declining for decades. Between 1950 and 2000, the share of women ages 15 to 24 who were married dropped from 42% to 16%! Among 25 to 34 year olds, the proportion dropped to from 82% to 58%!What does this all mean for our society? You tell us. From a practical standpoint more women are living lives that allow them a level of freedom that they may not have experienced in the past. At FutureDecisions we are seeing a greater number of women signing up for our Reinvent Yourself Program. These women are pursuing a course of action to assist them in becoming more self-actualized than perhaps they have been in the past. They are pursuing their dreams with an eye towards what they want out of life, not what others may want for them.These numbers are bound to change the working landscape; how remains to be seen.