In a switch that highlights enormous changes in the American family, married couples no longer make up the majority of households in the Twin Cities area.
A new release of 2010 state data by the U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday shows that 48.6 percent of households in the seven-county metropolitan area were married couples. That's down from 50.9 percent in 2000. The rest of Minnesota is not far behind, with 50.8 percent of households made up of married couples.
"We've been going through a long period of social change," state Demographer Tom Gillaspy said. "Families with kids are no longer the largest single family type, and many couples are not together by contract. ... Changing families are one of the big issues we will face in the next couple of decades."
The proportion of married households in the nation has been dropping since 1950, when 78 percent of households were married couples. By 2000, that had dropped to 52 percent.
"People do value marriage, but it's more like an ideal, not a necessity," said Bill Doherty, University of Minnesota family and social science professor. Polls show that young Americans overwhelmingly want to get married. But people are waiting longer to tie the knot, and many don't feel the need to get married.
"You don't have to be married to be seen as an adult now," Doherty said. "Before, a 30-something unmarried guy was passed over for a management position, and a 30-something unmarried woman was a spinster who was seen as living a depleted life.
"Now we have a lot more opportunity and cultural permission for people to live big parts of their adult life outside of marriage."
Pam Riegel, 29, and Dax Flyger, 34, have been together for three years and are looking at buying a house. They've talked about getting married but are waiting until they're more settled, Riegel said.
