Key Takeaways

The Research: Desire for Marriage Is Rising. The Ability to Pursue It Is Not Keeping Pace.

The Kinsey Institute’s 15th annual Singles in America study, released in 2026 and based on a nationally representative survey of roughly 5,000 U.S. singles, contains a finding that should reshape how every church thinks about its young adult and singles ministry.

The share of singles who say they would like to marry someday has risen from 33% in 2010 to 45% in 2026. That is a 12-point increase over 16 years, in the same period during which marriage rates were declining, the average age of first marriage was rising, and the dominant cultural narrative was telling young adults to prioritize independence and career over partnership and family.

Despite all of that, nearly half of all singles now say they want to get married. The desire has not gone away. If anything, it has grown.

But the study also documents something that sits alongside that rising aspiration: the barriers between desire and action remain significant. Only 38% of singles ages 18 to 49 say they want children. Financial stability is a top parenting consideration for half of respondents. The dating landscape, dominated by apps that produce a rejection mindset and a culture that has eroded the social infrastructure around which relationships naturally formed, has left many singles wanting love but uncertain how to find it or build it.

The Core Finding: Economic Anxiety Is Pushing Singles Toward Partnership, Not Away From It

Here is the finding in the Kinsey Institute study that most surprises people, and that carries the most practical significance for churches thinking about how to reach young adults.

Economic hardship is conventionally associated with delayed marriage. When finances are uncertain, the narrative goes, people wait. They postpone partnership until they feel secure enough to commit.

The 2026 Singles in America data tells a more complicated story. Fifty-two percent of singles say today’s difficult economy makes them more interested in finding someone to share life with. That figure is almost double the 27% who said the same in 2013. Economic anxiety, it turns out, is not only pushing some singles to delay. It is also pushing others to want partnership more urgently, because sharing life with someone is itself a form of stability.

This matters enormously for how churches frame their relationship ministry. The economic pressures facing young adults are real. But those same pressures are creating openings for communities that can offer what the economy cannot: genuine belonging, enduring partnership, and the relational security that comes from being known and committed to over time.

The aspiration is already there. The desire for trust, stability, lasting love, and a life shared with another person is rising, not falling. The gap is not motivation. It is confidence, skills, and community. And the local church is uniquely positioned to close all three.

The Counterintuitive Angle: The Church Does Not Need to Convince Singles That Relationships Matter. They Already Know.

Here is the reframe that the Kinsey Institute data makes possible, and that should change the entire posture of singles ministry in most churches.

For years, the assumption in many churches has been that the work of relationship ministry is convincing a skeptical, commitment-averse generation that marriage and family are worth pursuing. The data increasingly challenges that assumption. The majority of singles are not skeptical about love. They are not indifferent to partnership. They are not pursuing independence because they have concluded that commitment is not worth it.

They want lasting relationships. They are just not sure how to build them in a culture that has dismantled the relational infrastructure that made building them easier for previous generations. The social norms, the community contexts, the practical formation, the clear pathway from single life toward marriage: all of it has weakened. What singles are missing is not desire. It is the confidence and equipping that turns desire into action.

That is exactly the gap the local church is built to fill. Not by preaching the case for marriage to people who already want it, but by becoming the community where the skills are taught, the relationships are formed, the pathway is visible, and the aspiration that the Kinsey Institute found is already present in nearly half of all singles can finally go somewhere.

What This Means for Your Church

At Communio, the Singles in America data confirms what we see in churches across the country: the singles in your congregation are not the obstacle to relationship ministry. They are the opportunity.

Lead with what they already want. Trust, stability, belonging, and lasting love are the aspirations the study documents. These are also the outcomes that healthy marriages and strong relationships produce. The message does not need to be a hard sell on the institution of marriage. It needs to be an honest, hopeful, practical answer to the question singles are already asking: how do I build the kind of relationship I actually want?

The answer requires community, skills, and a pathway. Communio helps churches build all three, equipping singles and young adults with the practical relationship skills, the genuine community, and the clear on-ramp toward commitment that the culture is failing to provide. The desire is already in the room. The church’s job is to give it somewhere to go.

Take the Next Step

Communio partners with churches to build relationship ministry for singles and young adults that leads with aspiration and equips people with the skills to build lasting love.

► Explore the Kinsey Institute 2026 Singles in America study → news.iu.edu

► Explore Communio’s resources for churches → communio.org

Frequently Asked Questions

What did the 2026 Singles in America study find about the desire for marriage? The Kinsey Institute’s 2026 Singles in America study, which surveyed roughly 5,000 U.S. singles, found that 45% now say they would like to marry someday, up from 33% in 2010. Despite declining marriage rates and rising ages of first marriage over the same period, the desire for lasting partnership has actually grown among single Americans.

Why does economic anxiety increase the desire for partnership? The study found that 52% of singles say today’s difficult economy makes them more interested in finding someone to share life with, almost double the 27% who said the same in 2013. Sharing life with a committed partner provides its own form of financial and emotional stability. Economic hardship, rather than simply delaying marriage, is also intensifying the desire for lasting partnership among a significant share of singles.

Why are singles hesitant about having children even when they want marriage? Only 38% of singles ages 18 to 49 say they want children, and financial stability is a top parenting consideration for half of respondents. The barriers to parenthood tend to be more practical and economic than the barriers to partnership itself, reflecting the rising material expectations around family formation that researchers have documented across multiple recent studies.

What is the real gap that churches need to address for singles? The Kinsey Institute data suggests the gap is not motivation. Most singles already want lasting love, trust, stability, and belonging. The gap is between that desire and the confidence, skills, and community needed to act on it. Churches that lead with the aspiration singles already have and then equip them with practical relationship skills are addressing the actual barrier, not a perceived one.

How can Communio help churches reach singles and young adults? Communio helps churches build relationship ministry for singles and young adults that creates genuine community through low-stakes relational events, equips people with practical relationship skills, and builds the clear on-ramp toward commitment that the culture no longer provides. The goal is to give the aspiration that singles already have somewhere real to go.

Credit: This post draws on the Kinsey Institute’s 15th Annual Singles in America study, released in 2026. Explore the full study at news.iu.edu.