All the Single Ladies Put Your Hands Up

You're in the majority. But the government isn't paying attention.

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

There are more single women in the United States than at any point in the country’s history, and that reality is changing the nation. But the nation isn’t adjusting to this new reality.

Most women in the United States — 52% — are unmarried. As women have married later and a growing share have never married at all, the ranks of single ladies has risen. But while these same single women are, on paper, doing everything right — going to college in higher numbers than single men; buying homes in higher numbers than single men; spending less money than single men, and spending more of their money on necessities rather than luxuries (single women spend more on housing, education, and healthcare, while single men are more likely to spend on things like travel, dining out, and entertainment) — single women have less wealth than single men, and are paid less.

While this is a gender gap, it’s overwhelmingly a motherhood gap: While single women across the board make less than single men and have less wealth, single mothers have an average net worth of $7,000. For single women without kids, it’s $65,000.

What about for men, you ask? The gap between single dads and single men without children is just $2,000. So this isn’t something inherent to single parenthood. It’s something happening with single motherhood.