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The Historic Rise of One-Person Households: 1850 -2010
The Historic Rise of One-Person Households: 1850 -2010
Introduction
The growth in one -person households in the United States since the mid 1800s is one of the largest changes in household composition during this time. While in 18 50, about 2 percent of all households contained one person, this rose to 27 percent by 2010 (see Figure 1) . This extraordinary growth likely reflects a variety of fac tors, including gains in life expectancy , improved health at older ages, improve d economic well -being of the older population, an increasing age at first marriage in the latter 20 th century, and shifts in the acceptability of young women living alone.
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WORKING PAPER
Families and Households Working Papers
Page Last Revised - October 8, 2021
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