The bar charts below illustrate the marriage situation in the USA from 1970 to 2000.
From the graph above, we can see that the number of marriages has barely changed within the first decade. However, the number has steadily dropped since 1980 (from 1.5 to 1). The number of divorced people first increased from 1980, peaked in 1980, then fell back to 1. 2000 is the year with the most divorced couples and the fewest married ones.
The chart below shows the marital status of adult Americans. Clearly, most adults were married in both 1970 and 2000 (70% and almost 60%). There are slight differences in the percentage of never-married adults and widowed ones between the years. However, there is a huge gap between the divorced percentage in 1970 and in 2000.
All in all, more and more Americans chose to stay single or get a divorce within these 30 years.