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Twin Cities Married Couples Now In The Minority

By Susie Jones, NewsRadio 830 WCCO

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- New data from the 2010 Census shows that married couples no longer make up the majority of households in the Twin Cities area.

The census found that 48.6 percent of households in the seven-county metro were married couples. That's down from 50.9 percent in 2000.

William Doherty is a University of Minnesota Family Social Science Professor. He said there are many reasons people are not getting married.

"You don't have to married to be an adult in our society, and so middle-class people wait longer, and low income people are not so sure they can make a marriage work," he said.

The proportion of married households in the nation has been dropping since 1950, when 78 percent of households were married couples. By 2000, that had dropped to 52 percent.

WCCO's Susie Jones Interviews William Doherty

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