J.D. Vance, Vice President of the US, made a bizarre pot-shot at childless women in the run-up to the US’ 2024 elections. Why this was the target of his ire, we don’t know, but at times, I have encountered unusual reactions to my single, childless status. “Oh, that’s highly unusual,” came one comment from a man and “Aren’t you lonely?” uttered another woman. Many of these comments illustrate that people are often not aware of the shifting dynamics beyond their circles of involvement and that declines in marriage and increases in childlessness are becoming a reality in many countries.

Pew Research Center’s analysis of 2019 census data showed that nearly half of US adults are unmarried and an estimated half of that population is not interested in dating. As Professor of Marketing and Psychology at the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado, Peter McGraw, said, “There are 128 million unmarried American adults, and 25% of millennials are projected to never marry,” McGraw said. “It’s time for a new playbook.”

My immediate circle of friends illustrates the array of relationship statuses (my friends range from 40 to 60). Of my 30 closest friends (a 50/50 split of male/female), only 50% are married, only 46.7% have children (often different to the ones who are married), 27% are divorced, and only 27% are in households as a nuclear family where the couple is still married with their children. But how does this compare to global norms?

Statistics from national statistic offices show marital status and child/childlessness by household as follows:

• Families with children: UK – 32%, US – 17.9%
• Married no children: UK – 24%, US – 29.4%
• Families with or without children: UK – 56%, South Africa – 41.5%, US – 47.3%
• Single parents: UK – 16%, US – 7.4%
• Single households: UK – 30%, South Africa – 23.3%, US – 29%
• Extended households: UK – 2.1%, South Africa – 33.6%, US – 16.3%

Peter McGraw has created Single Insights to help marketers and companies understand that single people are not just half a couple, but are a unique segment with more mobility and discretion on how they spend their money. Over the last 50 years, the US coupling has changed as follows:

It is not only companies that need to understand that single people are a unique segment and some married and coupled people also don’t understand the life that single people live. To the woman who asked if I was lonely, I quickly responded with, ‘One’s life is never lonely if it is full of friends.” We are not sitting at home bemoaning our single status and instead creating network of friends around you who provide invaluable support. Fortunately being single and childless also means you can do whatever you want, whenever you want, in whatever country you want, and don’t have to endure yet another five-year-olds birthday party that year if it’s not what you want.