The Census Bureau reports about 97 million unmarried Americans ages 18 and over in 2006, the most recent numbers available. That represents 44% of Americans 18 and over; a quarter have never been married; 10% are divorced, 6% widowed, and 2% separated.

"It's probably the best moment for singles in our history -' because of the attitudes of popular support and the numbers," says Pat Palmieri, a social historian at Teachers College at Columbia University, who is writing a history of singles in America since 1870. She is 60 and has never been married.

Young adults are delaying marriage and have a longer life expectancy, experts say, so more Americans will spend more of their adult lives single. As their ranks multiply, singles aren't waiting for a partner to buy a home or even have a child. They've decided to embrace single-hood for however long it lasts.

This article appeared in the April 13, 2007 edition of the USA Today.

Published Friday, Apr. 13, 2007