America's Families - Changing Family Structure

The most noticeable long-term trend among American families has been the decline in the traditional family—a married couple with children. New terminology developed to describe the diverse types of families—single parent, stepparent, blended, unmarried partners, same-sex partners, and multigenerational.

The changes in the American family did not happen overnight but evolved after World War II. The uncertainty of the war drove many young couples to rush into marriage. At the war's end, returning soldiers married in record numbers and promptly began families. The "American Dream" became the security of a family in which the father's income provided for the household's needs, while

FIGURE 1.1

the mother's workday was relegated to taking care of the children and house. Couples generally started families immediately, and women bore more children and in quicker succession than in previous generations. The seventy-seven million children born during the years 1946–64, the single largest generation in U.S. history, came to be known as the "baby boom generation."

Attitudes toward divorce began to relax as couples who rushed to marry during the war years went their separate ways. Divorces increased significantly in the 1950s and 1960s. The children of these divorced couples experienced new challenges brought on by the breakup of their families. They grew up questioning the value of marriage and launched a sexual revolution in which living together without being married became commonplace. The number of cohabiting couples continued to grow in the 1970s and 1980s, and young men and women further delayed marriage and having children. Women found careers and put off childbearing even into their forties. By the 1990s, the definition of "family" broadened to include married couples, cohabiting couples, same-sex couples, and single persons, any of whom might have children of their own, as well as stepchildren and adopted children. The ranks of those who chose to live alone—who were once considered odd or eccentric—swelled to record numbers.

TABLE 1.3

Rates of live births, deaths, marriages, and divorces, 1950–2001
[Prior to 1960, excludes Alaska and Hawaii. Beginning 1970, excludes births to and deaths of non-residents of the United States.]
		Rate per 1,000 population
		Deaths
Year	Births¹	Total	Infant²	Marriages³	Divorces⁴
NA Not available.
¹Prior to 1960, data adjusted for underregistration.
²Infants under 1 year excluding fetal deaths; rates per 1,000 registered live births.
³Includes estimates for some states through 1965 and also for 1976 and 1977 and marriage licenses for some states for all years except 1973 and 1975. Beginning 1978, includes nonlicensed marriages in California.
⁴Includes reported annulments and some estimated state figures for all years.
⁵Divorce rate excludes data for California, Colorado, Indiana, and Louisiana; population for this rate also excludes these states.
SOURCE: Adapted from "No. 83. Live Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Divorces, 1950–2001," in Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2003, U.S. Census Bureau, 2003, http://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/03statab/vitstat.pdf (accessed August 11, 2004)
1950	24.1	9.6	29.2	11.1	2.6
1955	25.0	9.3	26.4	9.3	2.3
1957	25.3	9.6	26.3	8.9	2.2
1960	23.7	9.5	26.0	8.5	2.2
1965	19.4	9.4	24.7	9.3	2.5
1970	18.4	9.5	20.0	10.6	3.5
1971	17.2	9.3	19.1	10.6	3.7
1972	15.6	9.4	18.5	10.9	4.0
1973	14.8	9.3	17.7	10.8	4.3
1974	14.8	9.1	16.7	10.5	4.6
1975	14.6	8.8	16.1	10.0	4.8
1976	14.6	8.8	15.2	9.9	5.0
1977	15.1	8.6	14.1	9.9	5.0
1978	15.0	8.7	13.8	10.3	5.1
1979	15.6	8.5	13.1	10.4	5.3
1980	15.9	8.8	12.6	10.6	5.2
1981	15.8	8.6	11.9	10.6	5.3
1982	15.9	8.5	11.5	10.6	5.1
1983	15.6	8.6	11.2	10.5	5.0
1984	15.6	8.6	10.8	10.5	5.0
1985	15.8	8.8	10.6	10.1	5.0
1986	15.6	8.8	10.4	10.0	4.9
1987	15.7	8.8	10.1	9.9	4.8
1988	16.0	8.9	10.0	9.8	4.8
1989	16.4	8.7	9.8	9.7	4.7
1990	16.7	8.6	9.2	9.8	4.7
1991	16.3	8.6	8.9	9.4	4.7
1992	15.9	8.5	8.5	9.3	4.8
1993	15.5	8.8	8.4	9.0	4.6
1994	15.2	8.8	8.0	9.1	4.6
1995	14.8	8.8	7.6	8.9	4.4
1996	14.7	8.7	7.3	8.8	4.3
1997	14.5	8.6	7.2	8.9	4.3
1998⁵	14.6	8.6	7.2	8.3	4.2
1999⁵	14.5	8.8	7.1	8.6	4.1
2000⁵	14.4	8.7	6.9	8.5	4.2
2001⁵	14.1	8.5	6.8	8.4	4.0

Nonfamily Households

In 1950 only 10.6% of American households were non-family households. Census 2000 recorded 33.7 million nonfamilies—32% of all households. (See Table 1.6.) As traditional families declined, nonfamily households increased. The majority of this growth was due to more people living alone. In 1970 persons living alone represented 17.1% of all households. By 2000, single persons accounted for 25.5% of households. The Census Bureau reported that women represented 67% of one-person households in 1970

TABLE 1.4

Life expectancy, 1900–2001
[Data are based on death certificates]
	All races			White			Black or African American¹
Specified age and year	Both Saxes	Male	Female	Both Saxes	Male	Female	Both Saxes	Male	Female
¹Data shown for 1900–60 are for the nonwhite population.
²Death registration area only. The death registration area increased from 10 States and the District of Columbia in 1900 to the coterminous United States in 1933.
³Includes deaths of persons who were not residents of the 50 States and the District of Columbia.
⁴Life expectancies (LEs) for 2000 were revised and may differ from those shown previously. LEs for 2000 were computed using population counts from Census 2000 and replace LEs for 2000 using 1990-based postcensal estimates.
⁵Life expectancies for 2001 were computed using 2000-based postcensal estimates.
SOURCE: Adapted from "Life Expectancy at Birth and at 65 Years of Age and at 75 Years of Age, According to Race and Sex, United States, Selected Years 1900–2001," in Health, United States, 2003, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, 2003, http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/tables/2003/03hus027.pdf (accessed August 11, 2004)
At birth	Remaining life expectancy in years
1900^2,3	47.3	46.3	48.3	47.6	46.6	48.7	33.0	32.5	33.5
1950³	68.2	65.6	71.1	69.1	66.5	72.2	60.8	59.1	62.9
1960³	69.7	66.6	73.1	70.6	67.4	74.1	63.6	61.1	66.3
1970	70.8	67.1	74.7	71.7	68.0	75.6	64.1	60.0	68.3
1980	73.7	70.0	77.4	74.4	70.7	78.1	68.1	63.8	72.5
1985	74.7	71.1	78.2	75.3	71.8	78.7	69.3	65.0	73.4
1990	75.4	71.8	78.8	76.1	72.7	79.4	69.1	64.5	73.6
1991	75.5	72.0	78.9	76.3	72.9	79.6	69.3	64.6	73.8
1992	75.8	72.3	79.1	76.5	73.2	79.8	69.6	65.0	73.9
1993	75.5	72.2	78.8	76.3	73.1	79.5	69.2	64.6	73.7
1994	75.7	72.4	79.0	76.5	73.3	79.6	69.5	64.9	73.9
1995	75.8	72.5	78.9	76.5	73.4	79.6	69.6	65.2	73.9
1996	76.1	73.1	79.1	76.8	73.9	79.7	70.2	66.1	74.2
1997	76.5	73.6	79.4	77.1	74.3	79.9	71.1	67.2	74.7
1998	76.7	73.8	79.5	77.3	74.5	80.0	71.3	67.6	74.8
1999	76.7	73.9	79.4	77.3	74.6	79.9	71.4	67.8	74.7
2000⁴	77.0	74.3	79.7	77.6	74.9	80.1	71.9	68.3	75.2
2001⁵	77.2	74.4	79.8	77.7	75.0	80.2	72.2	68.6	75.5

TABLE 1.5

Births, marriages, divorces, and deaths, 2003
(Rates for infant deaths are deaths under 1 year per 1,000 live births; fertility rates are live births per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years; all other rates are per 1,000 total population. National data are bases on events occurring in the United States, regardless of place of residence.)
	December				12 months ending with December
	Number		Rate		Number		Rate
Item	2003	2002	2003	2002	2003	2002	2003	2002	2001
… Category not applicable.
— Data not available.
¹Marriage rates may be underestimated due to incomplete reporting in Oklahoma.
²Divorce rates exclude data for California, Hawaii, Indiana, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. Populations for these rates also exclude these states.
Note: Figures include all revisions received from the states and, therefore, may differ from those previously published. National data are based on events occurring in the United States, regardless of place of residence.
SOURCE: M.L. Munson and P.D. Sutton, "Births, Marriages, Divorces, and Deaths: Provisional Data for 2003," in National Vital Statistics Report, vol. 52, no. 22, National Center for Health Statistics, 2004, http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr52/nvsr52_22.pdf (accessed July 16, 2004)
Live births	342,000	330,000	13.8	13.4	4,093,000	4,022,000	14.0	13.9	14.1
Fertility rate	…	…	64.7	62.5	…	…	65.8	64.8	65.1
Deaths	230,000	215,000	9.3	8.7	2,423,000	2,438,000	8.3	8.5	8.5
Infant deaths	2,300	2,300	6.6	6.9	27,500	27,600	6.7	6.9	6.9
Natural increase	112,000	115,000	4.5	4.7	1,670,000	1,584,000	5.7	5.4	5.6
Marriages¹	158,000	165,000	6.3	6.7	2,187,000	2,254,000	7.5	7.8	8.2
Divorces²	—	—	—	—	—	—	3.8	4.0	4.0
Population base (in millions)	…	…	292.7	289.7	…	…	291.4	288.4	285.3

but only 58% of one-person households by 2000. Householders who lived with nonrelatives made up the other growing nonfamily household type. In 1970 householders with roommates or boarders accounted for 1.7% of all households, but by 2000 they represented 5.7%.

Women Had Fewer Children

The number of women of childbearing age increased substantially from the mid-1960s until the early 1980s as the baby boom generation matured. The decline in large families during this period was evident in the decreasing percentage

TABLE 1.6

Households by type and size, 1900–2000
		Family households				Nonfamily households
				Other family
Year	Total households	Total	Married Couples	Male householder*	Female householder*	Total	Male householder	Female householder	Average size household
*No spouse present
NA Not available. X Not applicable. No spouse present. Revised using population controls based on the 1980 census. Revisedusing population controls based on the 1990 census. Covers all years from 1947 to present.
SOURCE: Adapted from "HS-12. Households by Type and Size, 1900–2002," in Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2003, U.S. Census Bureau, 2003, http://www.census.gov/statab/hist/HS-12.pdf (accessed August 11, 2004)
Number (1,000)
Census
1900	15,964	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	4.60
1910	20,256	(NA)	16,250	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	4.54
1920	24,352	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	4.34
1930	29,905	(NA)	23,649	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	4.01
1940	34,949	31,491	26,571	1,510	3,410	3,458	1,599	1,859	3.68
1950	42,251	37,775	33,019	1,331	3,425	4,476	(NA)	(NA)	3.38
1960	53,024	45,027	39,657	1,295	4,196	7,997	(NA)	(NA)	3.29
1970	63,450	50,969	44,062	1,402	5,504	12,481	(NA)	(NA)	3.11
1980	80,390	58,882	48,371	2,102	8,409	21,508	9,187	12,320	2.75
1990	91,947	64,518	50,708	3,144	10,666	27,429	12,142	15,288	2.63
2000	105,480	71,787	54,493	4,394	12,900	33,693	15,556	18,137	2.59
Highest value	105,480	71,787	54,493	4,394	12,900	33,693	15,556	18,137	4.60
Lowest value	15,964	31,491	26,571	1,510	3,410	3,458	1,599	1,859	2.59

TABLE 1.7

Children ever born per 1,000 women 40–44 years old, selected years, 1976–2002
(Numbers in thousands)
		Children ever born per 1,000 women	Percent distribution of women by number of children ever born
Year	Number of women	Children ever born per 1,000 women	Total	None	1 child	2 children	3 children	4 children	5 or more children
SOURCE: Barbara Downs, "Table 2. Children Ever Born per 1,000 Women 40–44 Years Old, Selected Years, 1976–2002," in Fertility of American Women, June 2002, Current Population Reports, P20-548, U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration, U.S. Census Bureau, October 2003, http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/p20-548.pdf (accessed July 19, 2004)
1976	5,684	3,091	100.0	10.2	9.6	21.7	22.7	15.8	20.1
1980	5,983	2,988	100.0	10.1	9.6	24.6	22.6	15.5	17.6
1985	7,226	2,447	100.0	11.4	12.6	32.9	23.1	10.9	9.1
1990	8,905	2,045	100.0	16.0	16.9	35.0	19.4	8.0	4.8
1995	10,244	1,961	100.0	17.5	17.6	35.2	18.5	7.4	3.9
1998	11,113	1,877	100.0	19.0	17.3	35.8	18.2	6.1	3.5
2000	11,447	1,913	100.0	19.0	16.4	35.0	19.1	7.2	3.3
2002	11,561	1,930	100.0	17.9	17.4	35.4	18.9	6.8	3.6

of women having three or more children. The percent of women who had given birth to five or more children dropped from 20.1% in 1976 to 3.6% in 2002. (See Table 1.7.) Between 1976 and 2002 the percentage of women who had one child nearly doubled, and the percentage of women with two children increased from 21.7% to 35.4%.

In Fertility of American Women the Census Bureau estimated that women in the forty to forty-four age range in 2002 would end their childbearing years with an average of 1.9 children. As recently as 1976 the average was 3.1 children per woman. In the span of less than two generations the size of the average family dropped by one full child.

With greater acceptance of women remaining single and pursuing careers, more women chose to remain childless. In 1976 only 10.2% of women age forty to forty-four were childless compared to 17.9% in 2002. (See Table 1.7.) Of the 61.4 million women in the fifteen to forty-four age range in June 2002, 3.8 million gave birth in the preceding twelve months. The birth rate for first-born children was highest among women in the twenty to twenty-four age range with 45.3 births per one thousand women. African-American women in this age range had a birth rate of 61.2 and Hispanic women had a rate of 70.8. Among Asian women, the highest birth rate (45.2) came in the twenty-five to twenty-nine age range. (See Table 1.8.)

TABLE 1.8

Fertility indicators for women 15–44 years old by age, race, and Hispanic origin, June 2002
(Numbers in thousands)
			Women who had a child in the last year
				Births per 1,000 women			Children ever born per 1,000 women
Characteristic	Number of women	Percent childless	Number with a birth	Rate	90-percent confidence interval	First births per 1,000 women	Children ever born per 1,000 women
—Represents zero or rounds to zero.
SOURCE: Barbara Downs, "Table 1. Fertility Indicators for Women 15–44 Years Old by Age, Race, and Hispanic Origin, June 2002," in Fertility of American Women, June 2002, Current Population Reports, P20-548, U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration, U.S. Census Bureau, October 2003, http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/p20–548.pdf (accessed July 19, 2004)
Age
Total	61,361	43.5	3,766	61.4	59.4–63.4	23.1	1,211
15 to 19 years	9,809	91.2	549	55.9	50.9–60.9	27.7	140
20 to 24 years	9,683	67.0	872	90.0	83.0–97.0	45.3	525
25 to 29 years	9,221	45.2	897	97.2	90.2–104.2	33.2	1,050
30 to 34 years	10,284	27.6	859	83.6	77.6–89.6	26.4	1,543
35 to 39 years	10,803	20.2	452	41.9	36.9–46.9	7.9	1,849
40 to 44 years	1,561	17.9	137	11.9	9.9–13.9	3.6	1,930
Race and ethnicity
White
Total	48,481	43.9	2,958	61.0	58.0–64.0	22.9	1,196
15 to 19 years	7,699	91.9	394	51.1	45.1–57.1	24.7	129
20 to 24 years	7,604	69.5	631	83.0	76.0–90.0	42.8	473
25 to 29 years	7,151	46.6	723	101.1	93.1–109.1	34.7	1,018
30 to 34 years	8,057	27.2	717	88.9	81.7–95.1	29.5	1,530
35 to 39 years	8,658	20.2	374	43.2	38.2–48.2	7.9	1,842
40 to 44 years	9,313	17.9	120	12.8	9.8–15.8	4.2	1,917
White, non-Hispanic
Total	40,017	45.6	2,262	56.5	53.5–59.5	21.3	1,130
15 to 19 years	6,296	93.0	289	45.8	39.8–51.8	21.7	116
20 to 24 years	6,138	73.2	437	71.1	63.1–79.1	37.4	406
25 to 29 years	5,599	51.1	555	99.2	90.2–108.2	37.4	881
30 to 34 years	6,544	29.9	576	88.0	80.0–96.0	28.7	1,413
35 to 39 years	7,281	21.5	300	41.2	36.2–46.2	7.7	1,755
40 to 44 years	8,160	18.5	106	13.0	10.0–16.0	4.2	1,842
Black
Total	8,846	39.0	571	64.6	58.6–70.6	22.3	1,354
15 to 19 years	1,535	86.7	125	81.4	65.4–97.4	38.0	214
20 to 24 years	1,497	51.1	193	128.9	108.9–148.9	61.2	828
25 to 29 years	1,351	31.6	98	72.7	56.7–88.7	18.6	1,392
30 to 34 years	1,440	23.9	95	66.1	51.1–81.1	10.1	1,790
35 to 39 years	1,506	19.7	52	34.2	23.2–45.2	5.0	1,942
40 to 44 years	1,518	19.2	8	5.6	1.6–9.6	—	1,991
Asian and Pacific islander
Total	3,267	50.8	181	55.4	46.4–64.4	27.3	994
15 to 19 years	447	94.2	23	51.1	27.1–75.1	34.9	86
20 to 24 years	481	81.0	22	45.1	23.1–67.1	29.5	297
25 to 29 years	608	60.7	66	109.1	79.1–139.1	45.2	631
30 to 34 years	632	41.2	40	62.5	40.5–84.5	31.3	1,124
35 to 39 years	530	23.3	21	40.6	20.6–60.6	17.7	1,605
40 to 44 years	568	16.8	9	15.7	3.7–27.7	4.8	1,974
Hispanic (of any race)
Total	9,141	35.8	750	82.0	73.0–91.0	30.4	1,511
15 to 19 years	1,517	87.8	105	69.3	48.3–90.3	35.4	172
20 to 24 years	1,574	52.9	226	143.7	115.7–171.7	70.8	768
25 to 29 years	1,682	29.5	176	104.6	80.6–128.6	25.8	1,522
30 to 34 years	1,620	15.6	152	93.7	70.7–116.7	32.6	2,043
35 to 39 years	1,481	13.4	77	52.1	34.1–70.1	8.1	2,287
40 to 44 years	1,266	13.1	14	10.9	1.9–19.9	3.8	2,437

Births to Teenagers and Unmarried Women

In 1940 the birth rate per one thousand women age fifteen to nineteen was 54.1. In the post–World War II years the rate for this age group jumped from 59.3 in 1946 to 79.3 in 1947 and continued to rise to a high of 96.3 in 1957. From that peak, births to teenage mothers began a gradual decline to a record low of 42.9 per one thousand births in 2002. While teen births declined significantly, the number of unmarried teens giving birth increased. In 1940 only 13.6% of women age fifteen to

TABLE 1.9

Births to teenagers and to unmarried women, 1940–2002
[Represents registered births. Excludes births to nonresidents of the United States. Beginning 1980, data for states in which marital status was not reported, are inferred from other items on the birth certificate. Prior to 1980, births to unmarried women are estimated based on data for registration areas.]
	Teen childbearing			Nonmarital childbearing
Year	Total number of births to women 15–19 years	Birth rate per 1,000 women 15–19 years	Percent of teen births to unmarried women	Total number of births to unmarried women	Birth rate per 1,000 unmarried women 15–44 years	Percent of all births to unmarried
1940	300,747	54.1	13.6	89,500	7.1	3.8
1941	316,685	56.9	13.7	95,700	7.8	3.8
1942	341,315	61.1	13.0	95,500	8.0	3.4
1943	343,550	61.7	13.5	98,100	8.3	3.3
1944	301,130	54.3	16.6	105,200	9.0	3.8
1945	280,997	51.1	17.5	117,400	10.1	4.3
1946	322,381	59.3	18.4	125,200	10.9	3.8
1947	425,845	79.3	12.4	131,900	12.1	3.6
1948	431,933	81.8	15.3	129,700	12.5	3.7
1949	433,028	83.4	15.9	133,200	13.3	3.7
1950	419,535	81.6	13.4	141,600	14.1	4.0
1951	443,872	87.6	12.9	146,500	15.1	3.9
1952	438,046	86.1	13.4	150,300	15.8	3.9
1953	455,878	88.2	13.5	160,800	16.9	4.1
1954	477,880	90.6	14.1	176,600	18.7	4.4
1955	484,097	90.3	14.2	183,300	19.3	4.5
1956	520,422	94.6	14.0	193,500	20.4	4.7
1957	550,212	96.3	13.9	201,700	21.0	4.7
1958	554,184	91.4	14.3	208,700	21.2	5.0
1959	571,048	90.4	14.8	220,600	21.9	5.2
1960	586,966	89.1	14.8	224,300	21.6	5.3
1961	601,720	88.6	15.5	240,200	22.7	5.6
1962	600,298	81.4	15.7	245,100	21.9	5.9
1963	586,454	76.7	17.4	259,400	22.5	6.3
1964	585,710	73.1	19.0	275,700	23.0	6.9
1965	590,894	70.5	20.8	291,200	23.4	7.7
1966	621,426	70.3	21.9	302,400	23.3	8.4
1967	596,445	67.5	24.2	318,100	23.7	9.0
1968	591,312	65.6	26.7	339,200	24.3	9.7
1969	604,654	65.5	27.8	360,800	24.8	10.0
1970	644,708	68.3	29.5	398,700	26.4	10.7
1971	627,942	64.5	30.9	401,400	25.5	11.3
1972	616,280	61.7	32.8	403,200	24.8	12.4
1973	604,096	59.3	33.9	407,300	24.3	13.0
1974	595,449	57.5	35.4	418,100	23.9	13.2
1975	582,238	55.6	38.2	447,900	24.5	14.3
1976	558,744	52.8	40.3	468,100	24.3	14.8
1977	559,154	52.8	42.9	515,700	25.6	15.5
1978	543,407	51.5	44.1	543,900	25.7	16.3
1979	549,472	52.3	46.1	597,800	27.2	17.1
1980	552,161	53.0	47.6	665,747	29.4	18.4
1981	527,392	52.2	49.2	686,605	29.5	18.9
1982	513,758	52.4	50.7	715,227	30.0	19.4
1983	489,286	51.4	53.4	737,893	30.3	20.3
1984	469,582	50.6	55.6	770,355	31.0	21.0
1985	467,485	51.0	58.0	828,174	32.8	22.0
1986	461,905	50.2	60.8	878,477	34.2	23.4
1987	462,312	50.6	63.4	933,013	36.0	24.5
1988	478,353	53.0	65.3	1,005,299	38.5	25.7
1989	506,503	57.3	66.6	1,094,169	41.6	27.1
1990	521,826	59.9	67.1	1,165,384	43.8	28.0
1991	519,577	62.1	68.8	1,213,769	45.2	29.5
1992	505,415	60.7	70.0	1,224,876	45.2	30.1
1993	501,093	59.6	71.3	1,240,172	45.3	31.0
1994	505,488	58.9	75.5	1,289,592	46.9	32.6
1995	499,873	56.8	75.2	1,253,976	45.1	32.2

nineteen were unmarried when they gave birth. When the teen birth rate peaked in 1957, only 13.9% of births were to unmarried teens. By 2001, however, unmarried mothers accounted for 78.9% of all births to teens. (See Table 1.9.)

As attitudes toward marriage changed and more couples began to cohabit, attitudes toward births to unmarried women relaxed. In 1940 the birth rate for all unmarried women age fifteen to forty-four was 7.1 per one thousand. Contrary to the peak and decline pattern of births to teenagers, births to unmarried adult women continued a steady increase to forty-five births per one thousand in 2001. By 2002 one-third of all births were to unmarried women. (See Table 1.9.)

TABLE 1.9

NA Not available.
*Preliminary data.
SOURCE: "HS-14. Births to Teenagers and to Unmarried Women, 1940–2002," in Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2003, U.S. Census Bureau, 2003, http://www.census.gov/statab/hist/HS-14.pdf (accessed August 11, 2004)
1996	491,577	54.4	75.9	1,260,306	44.8	32.4
1997	483,220	52.3	77.8	1,257,444	44.0	32.4
1998	484,895	51.1	78.5	1,293,567	44.3	32.8
1999	476,050	49.6	78.7	1,308,560	43.9	33.0
2000	468,990	48.5	78.8	1,347,043	45.2	33.2
2001	445,944	42.9	78.9	(NA)	45.0	33.5
2002*	424,670	45.3	(NA)	1,349,249	(NA)	33.8
Highest value	644,708	96.3	78.9	1,349,249	46.9	33.8
Lowest value	280,997	42.9	12.4	89,500	7.1	3.3

Abortions Declined

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that 853,485 legal induced abortions were performed in the United States in 2001 compared to 857,475 in 2000. The 2001 abortion ratio (the number of legal induced abortions per one thousand live births) was 246. This was a slight increase from 245 in 2000 but a decrease from 256 in 1999. The CDC noted that the national abortion ratio increased from 196 per one thousand live births in 1973 to a peak of 364 per one thousand in 1984 and since then has steadily declined. Most abortions in 2001 were obtained by white, unmarried women less than twenty-five years of age. As in previous years, about one-fifth of women who had abortions were nineteen years old or younger. Of the women who had abortions, 45% were known to have had no previous live births.

The CDC noted a number of factors that may have contributed to the overall decline in the abortion ratio. These factors included a decrease in the number of unintended pregnancies; a shift in the age distribution of women (women are living longer and women past childbearing years make up a greater percentage of the female population); limited access to abortion services, including the passage of abortion laws that affect adolescents (parental consent or notification laws and mandatory waiting periods); and increased use of contraceptives (condoms and long-acting hormonal contraceptive methods for women that were introduced in the early 1990s).

Young Adults Delayed Marriage

Beginning in the mid-1960s, an increasing proportion of women and men postponed marriage. Many women began to focus attention on building careers. In 1950 14.4 million men (26.4%) and 11.4 million women (20%) had never been married. By 2002, 32% of men and 25.2% of women had never married. (See Table 1.10.)

The median age at first marriage in 1970 was 23.2 years old for men and 20.8 for women. As women found increasing opportunity in the workplace, they delayed marriage almost as long as men. By 2000 the median age at first marriage rose to 26.8 years old for men and 25.1 for women. (See Figure 1.2.)

Adult Children Living with Parents

Delays in marriage increased the number of one-person households or prompted adult children to continue living with their parents. Census 2000 reported 56% of men and 43% of women age eighteen to twenty-four lived at home with one or both parents. Both men and women in this age group were more likely to cohabit, live with roommates, or live with people other than spouses rather than live alone. Thirty percent of men and 35% of women in this age group lived with others who were neither spouses nor parents.

Single-Parent Households Increased

According to the Census Bureau's report America's Families and Living Arrangements 2000, single-mother households increased from 12% of family households in 1970 to 26% in 2000. In the same period single-father households grew from 1% to 5% of all family households. The sharp rise in birth rates among unmarried women between the mid-1970s and mid-1990s raised the proportion of children living with a single parent.

Divorces Continued

Before World War II divorces were difficult to obtain, and a divorce in a family was considered a scandalous

TABLE 1.10

Marital status of population 15 years old and over, by sex, 1950–2002
(Numbers in thousands)
*Data for March 2001 and later use population controls based on Census 2000 and an expanded sample of households designed to improve state estimates of children with health insurance.
SOURCE: Adapted from "Table MS-1. Marital Status of the Population 15 Years Old and Over, by Sex and Race, 1950–Present," in Annual Social and Economic Supplement: 2003 Current Population Survey, Series P20-553, U.S. Census Bureau, 2003, http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/hh-fam/tabMS-1.pdf (accessed August 10, 2004)
	Males
			Unmarried
Year	Total	Married	Total unmarried	Never married	Widowed	Divorced
All races
2002	106,819	61,268	45,551	34,229	2,636	8,686
2001*	105,584	61,209	44,375	33,077	2,540	8,758
2000	103,114	59,684	43,429	32,253	2,604	8,572
1999	102,048	59,039	43,010	31,912	2,542	8,556
1998	101,123	58,633	42,491	31,591	2,569	8,331
1997	100,159	57,923	42,236	31,315	2,690	8,231
1996	98,593	57,656	40,937	30,691	2,478	7,768
1995	97,704	57,570	39,953	30,286	2,284	7,383
1994	96,768	57,068	39,700	30,228	2,222	7,250
1993	94,854	56,833	38,021	28,775	2,468	6,778
1990	91,955	55,833	36,121	27,505	2,333	6,283
1980	81,947	51,813	30,134	24,227	1,977	3,930
1970	70,559	47,109	23,450	19,832	2,051	1,567
1960	60,273	41,781	18,492	15,274	2,112	1,106
1950	54,601	36,866	17,735	14,400	2,264	1,071
	Females
			Unmarried
Year	Total	Married	Total unmarried	Never married	Widowed	Divorced
All races
2002	114,639	62,102	52,537	28,681	11,408	12,268
2001*	113,451	61,889	51,562	28,056	11,526	11,980
2000	110,660	60,527	50,133	27,763	11,061	11,309
1999	109,628	60,001	49,626	27,520	10,944	11,162
1998	108,168	59,333	48,835	26,713	11,029	11,093
1997	107,076	58,829	48,247	26,073	11,058	11,116
1996	106,031	58,905	47,127	25,528	11,078	10,521
1995	105,028	58,984	46,045	24,693	11,082	10,270
1994	104,032	58,185	45,847	24,645	11,073	10,129
1993	102,400	57,768	44,631	23,534	11,214	9,883
1990	99,838	56,797	43,040	22,718	11,477	8,845
1980	89,914	52,965	36,950	20,226	10,758	5,966
1970	77,766	48,148	29,618	17,167	9,734	2,717
1960	64,607	42,583	22,024	12,252	8,064	1,708
1950	57,102	37,577	19,525	11,418	6,734	1,373

event. The Census Bureau reported that in 1950 only 2% of men and 2.4% of women were divorced. No-fault divorce laws introduced in most states in the mid-1970s made divorces easier to obtain. Divorce rates soared in the 1970s, reaching a peak of 5.3 divorces per one thousand population in about 1979. The Statistical Abstract of the United States 2003 reported a declining divorce rate as the nation entered the twenty-first century. There were 4.7 divorces per one thousand population in 1990; 4.5 in 1995; and 4.0 in 2001. By 2002, 8.1% of men and 10.7% of women identified their current status as divorced. (See Table 1.10.) (These figures did not account for people who had been divorced but were subsequently remarried.)

Divorce reduced the size of households when one household separated into two smaller ones. Remarriage by divorced persons, however, often brought stepchildren into the new household, sometimes creating larger families. It should be noted that stepchildren were counted as "own children" by the Census Bureau.