The shelf · Living alone and single life
Does Spinster hold up?
Spinster: Making a Life of One's Own, by Kate Bolick (2015)
A memoir and cultural history of unmarried women, built around five women writers the author calls her 'awakeners'.
The short answer
Its headline statistic appears to be a misreading: the Census figure is that 53% of unmarried adults are women, not that 53% of women are unmarried.
The claims, checked
53% of American women over 18 are unmarried.
Does not hold The Census figure for 2014 was that 53% of unmarried adults were women. In 2009, about half of women aged 15 and over were married, so the share of women 18 and over who are unmarried is lower than 53%.
Evidence: US Census Bureau, 2015
Average American family size fell from 8.02 children in 1800 to 3 in 1930.
Holds with conditions The direction is right, but the standard estimates of the fertility rate are 7.04 in 1800 and 2.45 in 1930. Her figures are higher than both.
Evidence: EH.Net Encyclopedia