(IDEX Online News) – The percentage of adult Americans who are married continued to decline in 2012, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau. This is a negative trend for the jewelry and diamond market, since as much as 40 percent of a typical specialty jeweler’s business is wedding related.

 

Just under 55 percent of all males age 15 and older were categorized as “married” in 2012, a proportion of the American population that has declined for about 50 years.

 

At the peak in the early 1960s, over two-thirds (69.3 percent) of all American men were married, with only one-third never-married, widowed, or divorced (not yet remarried). Today, there is almost a 50/50 split between men who are married versus men who are currently unmarried for one reason or another.

 

For women in the U.S. market, about half (51.7 percent) were married in 2012, while the other 48.3 percent were not married, being divorced, widowed, or simply never married. At the peak in the early 1960s, about two-thirds (65.9 percent) of all females in America were in a married relationship.

 

The graph below shows the decline in the number of married Americans aged 15 and older for the past 62 years.

 

 

Along with the decline in Americans who are married, the number of women who have never married continues to climb. Here are statistics for “never-married” women by age group in 2012:

 

            Age 18-19: 95 percent

            Age 20-24: 81 percent

            Age 25-29: 50 percent

            Age 30-34: 28 percent

 

This trend is reflective of another trend (see separate article) that shows couples are waiting until they are older prior to marrying for the first time.

 

Unmarried Couples Up 275 Percent in 15 Years

Separate data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that the number of “unmarried partners” in the U.S. has nearly tripled since 1996. During that year, there were an estimated 2.8 million unmarried couples. By 2012, the number of unmarried couples in the American market had jumped to 7.8 million. For jewelers, that huge market has foregone the purchase of the traditional diamond engagement ring and other wedding related jewelry.

 

Implications for Jewelers

With the marriage rate declining and the number of cohabitating unmarried couples rising, there will be fewer opportunities to sell traditional diamond engagement rings and bridal related jewelry. Jewelers will need to focus on other life cycle events to build their business in the coming years.