February 11, 2009 5:29 PM
- Text
More Women Saying "I Don't"
(CBS)
Carrie and her "Sex And The City" gal pals wanted a husband, right? But they turned their backs on the bouquet.
Turns out, they're not alone, CBS News correspondent Kelly Wallace reports. For the first time, more women in America are unmarried than married. Women like 29-year-old Jessica Cohen of New York. "We don't need men anymore," she says. "I mean, we want men, we want someone to share everything with, but I don't think we need to rush."
According to a New York Times analysis of census results, 35 percent of women in the "Ozzie and Harriet" days of the 1950s were single. That number jumped to 49 percent in 2000 and to 51 percent in 2005.
Why the trend in saying "I don't?" Younger women are marrying later or just living with someone instead, while older women are living longer than their husbands and are choosing not to take another walk down the aisle.
"I've been through two marriages, and single is better for me," one woman explained.
Another reason: More women are working and supporting themselves.
"If they didn't find that guy that just clicked with them at a certain point in time, they didn't give up. They decided, 'I'll just do a little bit more of my career. I'll look a little longer,'" says William Frey, of the Brookings Institution.
And culturally, it's more acceptable to be single. Think of Angelina, living with Brad and the kids without a ring.
It's not just Hollywood stars. It's real women everywhere.
As one Dallas woman explains, "I'm single right now and I feel actually happy about it."
A Miami woman says the best part of being single is "you can flirt a little bit."
And in downtown Los Angeles, Jessica says, "I want to get married so I can have kids, make my Mom happy, my Dad too."
She'd rather not belong to the new majority.
Turns out, they're not alone, CBS News correspondent Kelly Wallace reports. For the first time, more women in America are unmarried than married. Women like 29-year-old Jessica Cohen of New York. "We don't need men anymore," she says. "I mean, we want men, we want someone to share everything with, but I don't think we need to rush."
According to a New York Times analysis of census results, 35 percent of women in the "Ozzie and Harriet" days of the 1950s were single. That number jumped to 49 percent in 2000 and to 51 percent in 2005.
Why the trend in saying "I don't?" Younger women are marrying later or just living with someone instead, while older women are living longer than their husbands and are choosing not to take another walk down the aisle.
"I've been through two marriages, and single is better for me," one woman explained.
Another reason: More women are working and supporting themselves.
"If they didn't find that guy that just clicked with them at a certain point in time, they didn't give up. They decided, 'I'll just do a little bit more of my career. I'll look a little longer,'" says William Frey, of the Brookings Institution.
And culturally, it's more acceptable to be single. Think of Angelina, living with Brad and the kids without a ring.
It's not just Hollywood stars. It's real women everywhere.
As one Dallas woman explains, "I'm single right now and I feel actually happy about it."
A Miami woman says the best part of being single is "you can flirt a little bit."
And in downtown Los Angeles, Jessica says, "I want to get married so I can have kids, make my Mom happy, my Dad too."
She'd rather not belong to the new majority.
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