Recent U.S. Census Bureau statistics confirm a troubling new crack in the bond that holds society together: Married couples now make up fewer than half of American households.

Of even more concern, the number of households headed by a woman without a husband jumped 18 percent between 2000 and 2010.

In 1950, 78 percent of Americans lived in households occupied by married couples. Today, it’s about 48 percent.

There is no single formula for operating a successful household, and some hardworking single parents raise successful children and support themselves.

But statistics show single-parent households on average have lower incomes, higher poverty rates and expose children to greater instability.

Those problems have been compounded over the past three years by high unemployment and the loss of higher-paying manufacturing jobs.

There are a variety of reasons for the declining proportion of married households, among them the larger number of widowed older adults living independently rather than with family.

It has also become socially acceptable for young people to live together rather than marry.

But the biggest single reason for the declining number of married households is not reassuring: the disintegration of working-class families.

Author June Carbone, a professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, is co-author of a book titled “Red Families v. Blue Families,” which chronicles the declining fortunes of lower-income working families.

The statistics reveal a combination of earlier marriage, lower educational levels, lower incomes and higher divorce rates in largely rural “red states.”

In more urban “blue states,” young people are more likely to stay in school longer, marry later and stay married.

The contrasts are stark and turn the traditional notions about Southern and Midwestern family values on their heads.

Massachusetts and Arkansas provide the starkest differences.

The Bay State has nearly the lowest divorce per year rate in the country (2.5 divorces per year per 1,000 people), the highest proportion of people holding bachelor’s degrees or higher (36.7 percent) and the fourth-highest median family income ($68,701).

Arkansas has the second-highest divorce rate (6.2), the second-lowest proportion of adults with bachelor’s degrees or higher (18.8 percent) and the second-lowest median family income ($39,945).

Other Eastern Seaboard states share Massachusetts’ good fortune in varying degrees. New York, Maryland, New Jersey and Delaware all have below-average divorce rates, above-average college degree rates and higher-than-average family incomes.

Maine, unfortunately, does not. Our divorce rate is the 13th highest in the U.S. (4.6 per 1,000 population). Our proportion of degree-holders is the 12th worst in the U.S. (24.2 percent), and our median family income is below average ($51,372).

The bottom line for Maine and the nation is the same.

As the number of single-parent households grows, the number of children and families living at or near the poverty line and are dependent on government services grows.

The solutions are equally obvious: convincing young people to finish high school, pursue higher education, marry later and delay having children.

That’s a tall order, and various groups in Maine have been working on it for years.

But the future of Maine’s economy depends on a more highly educated work force and stable, married families.

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 The opinions expressed in this column reflect the views of the ownership and editorial board.