Home Alone With $660 Billion $660 Billion

A prospering freelance journalist, Freeman, 32, has the kind of unencumbered cash flow and hedonistic tastes that make marketers drool. Freeman spends $150 a week eating out or ordering in. He stays in shape by riding his $600 Cannondale bicycle in biathlons. He takes such "adventure" vacations as scuba diving in the Caymans. His New York apartment is crammed with a VCR, two TVs, a fancy stereo, and a personal computer.

He may be single, but Freeman's not alone. The 1990 census shows that about 23 million Americans live by themselves, a 91% jump for women since 1970, and a 156% increase for men over the same period (chart). Two trends are behind this singles surge. Says Neil Bennett, an associate sociology professor at Yale: "Unprecedented numbers of (adults) are never marrying, and by some estimates, 60% of all couples divorce."