Households headed by married adults in the United States have more wealthOn average, more than those headed by single adults. Among unmarried adults, there is also a significant wealth gap between men and women.

According to U.S. Census Bureau data, the typical single man’s wealth in 2022 was $82,100, while the typical single woman’s wealth was $58,100.

However, among unmarried women, wealth varies significantly between those with children under the age of 18 in the household and those without.

The average wealth of households headed by unmarried women with no children under 18 was $87,200 in 2022; This is similar to households headed by unmarried men. In contrast, the average wealth of households headed by unmarried women with children were $10,700.

(Due to the relatively small number of single-father households, we cannot separately look at the wealth of households headed by unmarried men with and without children.)

Gaps in certain household assets

A household’s total wealth is the value of its assets minus its outstanding debts. In terms of basic assets, married and childless women are about on par with unmarried men. Single women and women with children are left behind in every field.

• Hosted by: In 2022, 50% of single women with no children under the age of 18 owned a home. This is similar to the 47% of single men who own a home. Only 34% of single mothers owned a home.
• House equality: The typical single female homeowner with no children had home equity of $165,000; This is the value of the home minus the outstanding mortgage balance. That’s slightly more than the $150,000 average home equity of single male homeowners. The average home equity of single mothers who owned a home was $114,000.
• Retirement account ownership: Among heads of households, 48% of single women and 50% of single men without children had a retirement account (for example, a 401(k) account or IRA) in 2022. This equates to 40% of single mothers.
• Retirement savings: Unmarried women with no children who had retirement accounts had an average of $43,700 in those accounts; this was not far below the $45,000 saved by single men. By contrast, the average amount in retirement accounts of households headed by a single mother was $12,000.

How does age contribute to wealth?

On average, Unmarried women earn less than unmarried men. So, how are the wealth levels of unmarried and childless women similar to unmarried men?

A big factor is age. Older heads of households tend to have more wealth than younger people. Among household heads, women who are unmarried and have no children are, on average, older than unmarried men.

While the average age of childless single women heading the household is 61, this age is 50 for single men heading the household.

Taking age into account, single women without children do not have the same wealth as single men. For example, among heads of households under age 65, the average wealth of married women with no children is $38,900, while the average wealth for unmarried men is $59,400.

Age also plays a role in explaining the low welfare of households headed by unmarried women with children. The average age of heads of households who are single mothers is 39.