People Live Living American Older U.S United Population

Living "alone" (by oneself; with no one else) was almost "unheard of" (nonexistent; did not exist) 100 years ago in the United States. In 1900, less than 5% of the American population lived by themselves, in their own apartment or house. In 2012, that number was 27%, and in cities such as New York and Washington D.C., almost half of the population lives alone. Why is this happening, and is it a good thing or a bad thing?

The "decline" (drop; decrease) of marriage is one reason people of all ages are now more likely to live alone. But there have been other changes as well. As American society gets richer, more people can "afford" (have the money) to buy their "independence" and live by themselves. This is especially true of older Americans. Thanks to "Social Security" (the government program that provides money for older people who no longer work) and individual savings, only 20% of older Americans now live with one of their children, compared to 70% in 1900. People live alone not because they don't have a choice, but rather, in most cases, because they do.

In case you think this is another case of "extreme" (too much) American "individualism" (the idea that each person should be independent and not rely on another), think again: most European countries have far more people living alone than the U.S. does. Nearly half of all Swedes (people from Sweden), 40% of Norwegians (from Norway), and 39% of Germans (from Germany) live alone. In fact, the Netherlands, Great Britain, France, Ukraine, Japan, Poland, Italy, and Canada all have more people living alone than the U.S. And Russia, Spain, Ireland, and South Korea are only a few percentage points behind the U.S.