Children Living With Two Parents Has Dropped

Percentage and Number of Children Living With Two Parents Has Dropped Since 1968

The number of children living with two parents has dropped since 1968, while the percentage living with their mother only has doubled. 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).

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 Parents
Living 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 the 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 Only
Children 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 Only
The 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 Parent
Perhaps 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.

Source: United States Census Bureau, https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/04/number-of-children-living-only-with-their-mothers-has-doubled-in-past-50-years.html 

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