The number of children living with two parents has dropped since 1968, while the percentage living with their mother only has doubled. Show
In 1968, 85% of children under 18 lived with two parents (regardless of marital status); by 2020, 70% did, according to the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS). Children living with a mother only is the second most common U.S. living arrangement, a number that has doubled since 1968. Monitoring these trends is important because children’s living arrangements can have implications for children’s outcomes, such as academic achievements, internalizing problems (e.g., depression and anxiety), and externalizing problems (e.g., anger and aggression). Since 2007, the CPS has specifically asked respondents to identify two parents for the child if both live in the household. If one parent is deployed overseas at the time of interview, for example, children are shown as living with one parent. The same goes for separated or divorced parents sharing custody: The parent the child is living with during the interview would be the identified parent. Prior to 2007, respondents could report the presence of one parent only and children were only shown as living with two parents when the parent was married. If the parent was not married, children were not identified as living with two parents.  Living With Two ParentsLiving with two parents has historically been the nation’s most common children’s living arrangement. In 1968, about 60.0 million (85%) U.S. children under 18 lived with two parents. But this number dipped between 1968 and 2020 when both the percentage and overall number of children living with two parents declined. By 2020, although this living arrangement continued to be the most common for children, the number of children living with two parents had slipped to 51.3 million (70%). Living With Mother OnlyChildren living with a mother only is the second most common U.S. living arrangement, a number that has doubled since 1968. About 7.6 million (11%) children lived with their mother only in 1968 compared to 15.3 million (21%) in 2020. Living With Father OnlyThe number of children living with their father only, although still small, more than quadrupled from 0.8 million (1%) to 3.3 million (4.5%) between 1968 and 2020. This arrangement remains much less common than living with a mother only. Living With No ParentPerhaps unsurprisingly, living with no parent but with grandparents or other relatives, for example, is the least common living arrangement for children. In 1968, approximately 2.0 million (3%) children lived with no parent. In 2020, that estimate rose to approximately 3.0 million (4%). Among those living without a parent, more than half (55%) had a grandparent in the household. Age of Children
The age profile of children living in specific living arrangements varies. For example, the share of children ages 0 to 5, 6 to 11, and 12 to 17 living with two married parents did not differ significantly in 2020. However, more than half of children living with two unmarried parents were between the ages of 0 and 5. Children living with one parent or no parent were older, more often ages 12 to 17 than 0 to 5 years. Differences Among Race and Origin GroupsLiving with two married parents was the most common living arrangement for children of all race and origin groups other than Black children. Fewer than two-fifths of Black children were living with two married parents in 2020. These children were most likely to live with their mothers only, with nearly half living in this arrangement in 2020. Asian children were the most likely to live with two married parents, followed by White, non-Hispanic children and Hispanic children. Other highlights:
The America’s Families and Living Arrangements tables and figures also provide details about unmarried couples, family groups, household sizes and other living arrangements. More information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error and definitions is available on the CPS technical documentation page. Paul Hemez and Chanell Washington are survey statisticians in the Census Bureau’s Fertility and Family Statistics Branch. Story Ideas and Statistics
National Child's Day: November 20, 2021 November 20, 2021 The majority of America’s 72.9M children under 18 live in households with two parents (70%). The second most common are children living with mother only (21%). National Parents’ Day: July 24, 2022 July 24, 2022 Of the 62.7M parents living with their children <18, 76.1% lived with a spouse, 15.6% had no spouse/partner present. The rest lived with a cohabiting partner. Mother’s Day: May 8, 2022 May 08, 2022 The June 2018 Fertility Supplement to the Current Population Survey estimated out of 76M women ages 15 to 50, 43M were mothers who had 94M children ever born. Father’s Day: June 19, 2022 June 19, 2022 Over one in four men — 34.3 million — have a biological child who is under 18. Four out of five of these fathers live with some of those children (79.8%). More storiesSubscribe Our email newsletter is sent out on the day we publish a story. Get an alert directly in your inbox to read, share and blog about our newest stories. What percent of children live with two married parents?Today, only about 64 percent of children live in homes with two parents who are married, representing an all-time low (Pew Research Center). Trend data shows a stark and steady decline since 1960, when nearly 88 percent of children lived with married parents.
What percentage of children live in a household with both parents?FEB. 3, 2022 — According to a new report released today by the U.S. Census Bureau, the majority (70.1%) of the nation's children under age 18 lived with two parents, 21.4% lived with their mother, 4.4% with their father, and 4.0% did not live with a parent in 2019.
How many kids grow up with married parents?In 2017, 66% of children in the United States lived in married-couple households, 25% lived in mother-only households and 8% were in father-only households.
What percentage of children live with only one parent?The large majority of those single-parent families, approximately 75 percent, are headed by a mother only. In 2020 nearly 19 million children, amounting to 25 percent of all children in the U.S., were living in single-parent families. That percentage is nearly three times the level in 1960 of 9 percent.
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