Stereotypical Silliness

America's 89.6 million singles head over half of their households - 50.3 percent, per the 2006 U.S. Census. They also love media and engage in socializing that rewards marketers who realistically depict the unmarried lifestyle, according to a recent report, writes MarketingCharts.

More racially diverse than the overall population, singles are younger, too - 57 percent are less than 45 years old, and four in ten are younger than 35, according to "Singles in the US: the New Nuclear Family," a report from market research publisher Packaged Facts, a division of MarketResearch.com.

Some other major findings from the report:

Unmarried adults - those never-married, divorced, widowed, or separated - share generational similarities: Younger singles are comfortable with technology, for example, while older singles focus on luxury.

About a quarter of singles are Boomers - "a lucrative and receptive market for a variety of products, especially experience-oriented travel, luxurious or anti-aging personal care products, spas and mind-body services, and products for their grandchildren," according to the report.

The most significant unmarried sub-group, single parents, enjoy shopping and sharing their children's entertainment, according to the report. And single moms, despite (or perhaps inspired by) earning a whopping 66 percent less than their male counterparts, concentrate heavily on providing for their kids materially and emotionally.

Blacks and Hispanics are more likely than Whites or Asians to be single: More than six out of ten Blacks are unmarried, and almost one in ten Blacks lives alone with children, according to the report.

Gays and lesbians are also a significant segment of the single population (approximately 9 percent), though not necessarily by choice, since most states don't allow same-sex marriage.

MarketingCharts offers up more data and charts from the report.