I love this kind of story - if you cherry pick a dataset just the right way, you can make the numbers say anything. The point made in the NYTimes piece:

In 2005, 51 percent of women said they were living without a spouse, up from 35 percent in 1950 and 49 percent in 2000.

And the sample space?

The proportion of married people, especially among younger age groups, has been declining for decades. Between 1950 and 2000, the share of women 15-to-24 who were married plummeted to 16 percent, from 42 percent. Among 25-to-34-year-olds, the proportion dropped to 58 percent, from 82 percent.

Hmm. My daughter is 13. So in two years, she'll be part of that unmarried cohort. I wonder how hard I'd have to work to make Smalltalk look like it's breaking out everywhere? Wait, I know - I'll only interview people who are happily using Smalltalk, and ignore any other potential data! That should be as useful a set of data as this story is...