How the gender wealth gap persists among unmarried Americans

A recent analysis of US Census Bureau data highlights a notable wealth disparity among single adults, with unmarried women lagging behind their male counterparts.

However, the report from the Pew Research Center shows that this gap closes when factoring in parental status, as unmarried women without children displayed similar wealth levels to single men in general.

In 2022, the median wealth of single men was $82,100, compared with $58,100 for single women, according to the data. However, unmarried women without children under 18 had a median wealth of $87,200, roughly on par with single men. Single mothers, by contrast, reported a median wealth of just $10,700.

“We cannot look at the wealth of households headed by unmarried men with or without children separately due to the relatively small number of single-father households,” the Pew Research Center analysis noted.

Assets and homeownership

Digging deeper into single households' wealth profiles, the report also examines key assets like homeownership and retirement accounts. Among single women without children, 50 percent owned their homes in 2022, similar to the 47 percent of single men who were homeowners. Meanwhile, only 34 percent of single mothers owned their homes.

In terms of home equity, single women without children held a median of $165,000, slightly surpassing the $150,000 median held by single men. Single mothers fell behind again, with median home equity of $114,000.

Retirement account ownership, including 401(k)s and IRAs, also followed this pattern. Around 48 percent of childless single women and 50 percent of single men had retirement savings, compared with just 40 percent of single mothers.

Looking at the value of retirement account assets, the analysis found unmarried men had a median value $45,000 in their retirement accounts, just slightly ahead of the $43,700 median value for unmarried women without children. In contrast, unmarried women with children had just $12,000 in media retirement assets.

The age factor

Age emerged as a significant factor driving the disparities. The median age of childless single women heading households was 61, compared with 50 for single men. In contrast, single mothers were significantly younger, with a median age of 39.

Among unmarried household heads under 65, the wealth gap widened. In this group, childless single women reported a median wealth of $38,900, while single men reported $59,400.