The bar chart illustrates the percentages of US citizens who remained unmarried between 1990 and 2010, categorised by gender. Overall, it is clear that the trend for both males and females was upward, with men consistently showing a higher propensity to remain single compared to women throughout the two decades.
In 1990, 26% of males had never married, a figure that rose steadily to 28% by 2005. This upward trend continued, albeit more gradually, reaching 29% in 2008 and 2009, before peaking at 29.5% in 2010.
Similarly, the percentage of females who never married began at 19% in 1990. This figure experienced a consistent rise, reaching 20.5% in 2000 and 21% by 2005. Growth continued over the following years, with the rate reaching 22% in both 2008 and 2009. By the end of the period in 2010, the proportion of unmarried females saw a more pronounced increase to 24.5%. Despite this growth, the gender gap remained evident, as the percentage of never-married males remained consistently higher than that of their female counterparts across all surveyed years.