The growing number of single adults is posing a challenge for religious institutions traditionally built around married families. In the United States, 42% of adults were not married or living with a partner in 2023, up from 38% in 2000. A quarter of 40-year-olds have never married, and a third of Generation Z are projected to never marry, according to demographic data.
This shift is reflected in declining religious membership among the unmarried. The Pew Research Center's 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study found that 68% of married adults identify as Christian, compared with 51% of never-married adults. Meanwhile, 24% of married Americans are religiously unaffiliated, versus 39% of those never married. The gap has widened since the 1990s, when 71% of married and 64% of unmarried adults belonged to a congregation; by 2019, those figures had fallen to 59% and 45%, respectively.
Religious communities are grappling with how to respond. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints acknowledged that more than half of its adult members are widowed, divorced, or never married. In 2024, it expanded its young single adult category from ages 18-30 to 18-35. Among evangelical Christians, sociologist Katie Gaddini found that women over 35 often feel overlooked and excluded from leadership. At a London conference, one attendee said: 'I'm so tired of fighting Christian church leaders to be treated equally, but I don't want to leave the church. So, what do I do?'
In Modern Orthodox Judaism, a 2022 survey found singles reported the lowest sense of community connection, scoring 69 on a 100-point scale, compared with 81 for married members. A Brandeis University study described unmarried members feeling 'ignored and invisible' in synagogue life. Sociologist Ari Engelberg noted that in Israel's Religious Zionist community, remaining single can be seen as a religious failing.
Religious institutions have split in their responses. Some reaffirm marriage as the expected path, while others are re-evaluating their assumptions. The rise of single adults is prompting a reckoning with how these communities include those who are not married.
