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A key aspect of the suddenly trendy “affordability” problem is that young adults are said to be priced out of the housing market. The statistics appear to be compelling. Per the National Association of Realtors, “Today’s young adults continue to face delays in homeownership compared to past generations at the same age. Not only is the homeownership rate lower for those under 35 today compared to past generations, but the first-time buyer share is lower, and the age of first-time buyers is older than seen historically.”
The most obvious approach to helping Gen Xers buy homes is to lower costs by increasing available supply. To be sure, this supply-side solution has its place. But here’s something else to consider: marriage.
It’s no coincidence that high housing costs coincide with another socioeconomic trend: low marriage rates. Per the Institute of Family Studies, “only about 60% of 35-year-old men are ever married today, down from 90% in 1980.” And, “just 20% of 25-year-old women and 23% of 25-year-old men have ever married today. These are close to the lowest levels ever observed for marriage rates.”
The decline in marriage has several important implications for housing costs.
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The most obvious, of course, is the fact that two incomes are better than one when it comes to saving for a down payment and paying monthly mortgage costs. Affordability that arises from pooling income — and aspirations — reflects an assumption about marriage that has faded.
Brad Wilcox of the Institute of Family Studies calls it “cornerstone marriage” — the idea of starting out poor and working together to improve a shared lot. He distinguishes between that and “capstone marriage” — wedding once one (or two) have become affluent enough to afford a destination wedding and a house. In other words, it’s not just the marriage rate that has declined, it’s the idea of the role of marriage, that has…
Then there’s the less obvious but crucial side effect of a low marriage rate: the establishment of more small, often single-person households creates a need for more housing for which young adults must compete when supply lags. This is not a marginal demographic change. Marriage rates among young adults have fallen sharply over time, meaning fewer couples, more single adults, and therefore more households competing for limited units.
On this point, census data is clear. The average household size has steadily decreased, from 3.3 persons per household in 1960 to just 2.4 in 2024. At the same time, the number of overall households has steadily climbed, from 117 million in 2010 to 132 million in 2024. It’s an increase disproportionate to the increase in population, as measured by the number of households per million Americans, which increased during the same period from 380,744 to 390,171. That same figure increased from 295,090 in 1960.
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That increase, moreover, is driven by the fact that more of us live alone. Between 2010 and 2024, the number of single-person households increased from 31 million to 38 million, while the number of three-person households barely increased, from 18 million to 19 million. Even that figure may not reflect an increase of married couples with a child; many Gen Z members live with their parents into their 30s. In 1960, just 11% of men and 7% of women ages 25 to 34 lived with their parents, whereas in 2022, 19% of men and 12% of women were living in their parents’ homes.
It should be no surprise that Americans are said to be enduring an epidemic of loneliness: many of us are literally alone at home.
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The increase in single-person households reflects more than the declining marriage rate, of course. Women live longer than men and thus elderly women tend to live alone. Men age 75 and older are nearly twice as likely (67%) as women (35%) to live with a spouse. Government housing policy adds to the problem. Public housing authorities give priority to those of lowest incomes for public housing or housing vouchers. Those inevitably turn out to be single mothers with children or older women without spouses. Only 3% of public or subsidized housing households are two adults with children.
It’s self-evident, though, that marriage can serve to ameliorate the housing affordability challenge in two ways: by serving to pool incomes and by reducing the demand for standalone households. Two heads are better than one, and in other words, one bed is better than two.
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