Lots of single Baby Boomers

Thanks to David Weigelt’s excellent blog for highlighting this article in the NY Times. If you don’t receive David’s monthly newsletter you should.

The New York Times has an article about the growing numbers of single older Americans. This is based on a paper, Unmarried Boomers Confront Old Age: A National Portrait, that appeared in the journal of the The Gerontological Society of America.

This quote gives the main message.

The proportion of midlife Americans (aged 45–63) that are unmarried has increased by more than 50% since 1980. Today, one in three Baby Boomers is unmarried. The vast majority of these unmarried Boomers are either divorced or never-married; just 10% are widowed. As Boomers move into older adulthood, the unmarried share will grow as married Boomers continue to experience divorce and widowhood.

Single households, single purchasing, single motivations, single hopes and aspirations. I am sure we don’t take these into account when we think about the older consumer. We should. Dick Stroud