Faith and the solo economy

24 Apr, 2026

In the developed world there has been a decline in rates of relationship and family formation among adults. More young people than ever are single with no children and no plans for them. These single adults work, live, shop, and worship differently than their 'attached' peers.

Despite this, society as a whole has not adapted to this new demographic reality. Single adults are often forced out of sectors of society - such as religious institutions - where they might form meaningful relationships (romantic or otherwise). By failing to consider single adults, we further atomize them. Clearly this is untenable.

Dr. Peter McGraw, of the University of Colorado Boulder, studies the "solo economy" - the rise of single-person households and their market impact. In the linked article¹, he examines singles in the context of religious institutions, many of which are designed for and around family life.

In a world with more singles and fewer families, how can congregations adapt?

Communities that have historically built their infrastructure around married families are feeling the shift most acutely: couples retreats, small groups organized by life stage, children’s programs, and leadership roles that quietly assume a spouse. The cumulative effect is less about overt exclusion than about whom the institution imagines when it pictures itself.

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In evangelical Christianity, sociologist Katie Gaddini’s research for her book “The Struggle to Stay” found that women – especially those over age 35 – often felt overlooked, excluded from leadership and valued less because they had not married.

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In qualitative research with single churchgoers, a consistent theme emerges: Marriage comes up regularly in sermons – in illustrations, examples and applications – while singleness almost never does. That instinct is understandable. But a strategy built for a society where most adults married young is a poor fit for one where many never will. ... When single adults hear, again and again, that the fullest version of faithful life is married life, many do not feel called upward. They feel pushed outward.

In many churches, an adult is assumed to have a spouse and children - and ministries are designed with that assumption in mind. Women's ministries become about being a wife and mother, men's ministries focus on being a husband and father, and singles ministries are designed for young adults below 30 or so. As singles age it often becomes difficult for them to feel as if they have a place in church - especially if they have no plans to marry. This pattern is not unique to Christianity, as the article details.

Many religious traditions include explicit pro-marriage and pro-natal messaging, and in fact people who attend religious services are more likely to marry and have children than the general population. Even so, we should expect single adults to be a growing segment of the population, and not all intend to marry. What would it mean for churches and religious communities to adapt to the growing numbers of life-long singles in their midst? The author lists a few:

1. Count who is actually in the pews. Leaders may not realize how many of their members are single, divorced or widowed. The Single Friendly Church Network found that when congregations conducted demographic audits, many were surprised by the results.
2. Give singles real authority. Inclusion does not mean creating a special ministry and leaving decision-making to married people. It means leadership, voice and visibility.
3. Rethink the language of belonging. Sermons and announcements that reflexively address “families” and “couples” can make unmarried adults feel peripheral. Small linguistic changes can signal that they are not.
4. Build community rather than dating pools. The goal should not be to funnel unmarried adults toward coupledom. It should be to treat them as complete people whose spiritual lives matter now.

#atomization #religion