PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — The recent US census has revealed more about Americans then just what community we choose to live in. More of us are not getting married but live together instead, and a local psychologist sheds some light on why that might be so.

The Council for Relationships’ Director of Clinical Services, Dr. April Westfall, says there are several factors.

“Over time, there certainly has been a reduction of the stigma of what, at one time, was attached to that for a lot of people, and I think that’s really now cutting across socio-economic lines,” Westfall says.

She also says that many couples are living together and postponing marriage until their late 20′s or early 30′s.

The economy Dr. Westfall says plays a role too.

“With people being unemployed and figures for that being so high now, a lot of people don’t want to enter marriage with the stress of that,” Westfall explains.

Another segment of the population waiting to get married? Single parents.

“Because they don’t want to subject their children to another loss. It’s hard enough for kids to go through the divorce of their parents, and for them to remarry and to have them undergo another loss is even harder for them,” Westfall says.

Reported by Michelle Durham, KYW Newsradio