Table 2.
Widowed, Divorced, and Never-Married Boomers’ Characteristics in 2009 (Weighted, Age Standardized Estimates)
| Widowed | Divorced | Never-Married | ||||
| Demographic characteristics | ||||||
| Women (%) | 77.96 | 56.94 | 47.09 | |||
| Race and ethnicity (%) | ||||||
| White | 63.86 | 69.90 | 61.50 | |||
| Black | 17.22 | 14.96 | 22.15 | |||
| Hispanic | 11.85 | # | 10.57 | 11.51 | # | |
| Others | 7.07 | 4.56 | 4.83 | |||
| Foreign born (%) | 15.57 | 11.26 | ^ | 11.56 | ^ | |
| Educational attainment (%) | ||||||
| Less than high school | 19.49 | 13.18 | 16.55 | |||
| High school graduate | 32.55 | 31.04 | 28.37 | |||
| Some college | 30.66 | 33.74 | 26.90 | |||
| Bachelor’s degree or more | 17.30 | 22.04 | 28.18 | |||
| Economic resources (in the past 12 months) | ||||||
| Worked (%) | 66.54 | 75.92 | 69.32 | |||
| Mean household income | $52,132 | $57,375 | ^ | $57,974 | ^ | |
| Lived in poverty (%) | 20.29 | # | 17.98 | 20.33 | # | |
| Received food stamps, public assistance, or SSI (%) | 21.16 | 18.46 | 20.29 | |||
| Health | ||||||
| Disability (%) | 24.26 | 20.80 | 22.53 | |||
| Had health insurance (%) | 77.39 | &# | 77.65 | &^ | 77.74 | # ^ |
| Household composition and living arrangements | ||||||
| Household size | 2.40 | 2.15 | ^ | 2.13 | ^ | |
| Multigenerational household (%) | 12.63 | 7.80 | 5.55 | |||
| Living arrangements (%)a | ||||||
| Alone | 44.63 | 53.74 | 65.78 | |||
| Unmarried partner | 6.08 | 9.35 | ^ | 9.06 | ^ | |
| Unmarried partner only | 56.06 | 61.73 | 68.39 | |||
| Unmarried partner + child | 37.42 | 28.55 | 22.56 | |||
| Unmarried partner + others | 6.52 | # | 9.71 | ^ | 9.06 | # ^ |
| Child (without partner) | 41.48 | 29.46 | 11.66 | |||
| Others | 7.81 | & | 7.45 | & | 13.50 | |
| Unweighted N | 26,698 | 148,268 | 76,220 | |||
| Weighted % | 10.00 | 58.35 | 31.65 |
Notes: Individuals living in group quarters are excluded from the tabulation. All estimates are adjusted by age. All group comparisons are statistically significant at p < .01 level except for the comparisons that are indicated by & (between widowed and divorced persons), by # (between widowed and never-married persons) or by ^ (between divorced and never-married persons). SSI = supplemental security income.
a
The information is limited to householders only.