By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist

New Census Bureau data released yesterday reveals that the number of people who married last year is at the lowest level in over one hundred years.

According to The Associated Press (AP), the new figures show that only 52 percent of adults age 18 and over said they were married in 2009 compared to 57 percent in the year 2,000.

Among adults age  25-34, roughly 46.3 percent say they have never married. This is the first time the number of unmarried young adults has exceeded the number of those who are married (44.9%).

Experts are blaming the recession for the decline in marriage as young people focus on finding jobs and trying to achieve economic independence.

“The government already had revealed that the income gap between the richest and poorest Americans grew last year by the largest margin ever, stark evidence of the impact the long recession starting in 2007 has had in upending lives and putting the young at greater risk,” the AP reports.

For instance, lower-skilled adults ages 18 to 34 had the largest jumps in poverty last year as employers tended to keep or hire older workers to fill the dwindling number of available jobs.

This has resulted in many unemployed young Americans deciding to double-up in housing with parents, friends and loved ones.

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