January 16th, 2007

Women Without Husbands

Broken wedding band

The New York Times reports a disturbing trend:

For what experts say is probably the first time, more American women are living without a husband than with one, according to a New York Times analysis of census results.

In 2005, 51 percent of women said they were living without a spouse, up from 35 percent in 1950 and 49 percent in 2000.

Perhaps we’re moving closer and closer to the day when the following scripture will be ultimately fulfilled:

And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach. (Isaiah 4:1)

7 Responses to “Women Without Husbands”

  1. Kaela
    January 16, 2007 at 11:28 am #

    And yet, statistics need to be taken in context. How OLD were the women polled? Does that include women age 18 and up? 25 and up? Where is the cut off? More than likely this statistic is tied closely to the fact that more women (and people in general) are taking their time to get married, searching diligently for the right person to spend eternity with, instead of settling for a consolation prize at a young age. Eternity is a long, long time.
    How many men are living without wives?

    Just giving you the flip side…

  2. Connor
    January 16, 2007 at 11:44 am #

    Kaela,

    Very true. Statistics can be manipulated *so* easily to serve anybody’s purposes. 68.4% of them are made up, right? šŸ™‚

  3. Kaela
    January 16, 2007 at 11:48 am #

    Right šŸ™‚

  4. Johnna
    January 16, 2007 at 12:10 pm #

    Except in this article, women aren’t married because they don’t wan to be. Most these women are divorced or widowed, and the experience has provided them no reason to marry again.

    I don’t think Isaiah 4:1 is a prophecy about women and marriage anyhow. It’s a continuation of the humiliation described in Isaiah 3:24.

  5. Vanessa
    January 17, 2007 at 11:24 pm #

    Marriage is for quitters! šŸ˜‰

  6. Carolynn Duncan
    January 18, 2007 at 12:03 am #

    I’m concerned less about how many women don’t have husbands as I am about how many have husbands and marriages that are actually a positive experience– and the same vice versa for the men.

    Something I heard from my young women days… some youth speaker somewhere:

    It’s better to be:

    1. Happily married.
    2. Happily single.
    3. Bitterly single (because then at least you still have some options)
    4. Bitterly married.

    I hope that the majority of those women without husbands, or men without wives, are landing somewhere around #2. šŸ˜‰

  7. RoAnn
    January 18, 2007 at 1:14 am #

    Maybe this statistic is related to the fact that many people are living with “partners” nowadays, rather than “spouses.”
    Consider this sentence from the NYT article:

    At one end of the age spectrum, women are marrying later or living with unmarried partners more often and for longer periods.

    I think this is a significant factor.

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