Washington, Sep 28 (IANS): While living together without getting married is on the rise, more adults in the US are staying away from marriages, says a new survey.

In 2012, one in five people aged 25 and older - or 42 million people - in the United States never been married, a Pew Research Center analysis found.

That marks a dramatic rise since 1960, when just one in 10 adults in this age-group had never been married.

The new report is based on data from the US Census Bureau and several Pew surveys.

A few trends have likely contributed to the new record, the researchers said.

For example, adults are getting married later in life. The average age of getting married for the first time is now 27 for women and 29 for men - that is up from 20 for women and 23 for men in 1960.

Living together without getting married is also gaining currency.

Nearly a quarter (24 percent) of never-married adults in the US between ages 25 and 34 years were living with a partner in 2012, Pew found.

US adults are also increasingly ambivalent about the importance of marriage, Live Science reported.