California marks marriage milestone: majority are unwed

The San Jose Mercury reports:

The newest minority in California?

Married couples.

For the first time in at least 50 years, a majority of the state's adults are single or separated, according to new federal data.

As recently as the 2000 Census, about 52 percent of Californians 15 or older were married. But 2006 population data released today by the U.S. Census Bureau says that share of married Californians has slipped to 48.5 percent this decade as the share of adults who have never wed has grown.

From the state's high cost of housing for families, to an increase in opportunities for women, to something as fundamental as our image of love - there is no shortage of reasons to explain the decline.

Californians are waiting longer than ever - and longer than people in many other states - to get married, or they're just skipping it altogether. About three in 10 women in California have never married, a percentage topped by only three other states, according to the new census data. An even higher percentage of men - 38 percent - have never married.

You've got to wonder why they start with 15 year olds in the survey? Why not start at the age of 18?