Family and Living Arrangements - Living Arrangements Of Children

Single-Parent Families

Many children who live in single-parent households face significant challenges that can be exacerbated by racial and ethnic inequalities. According to the Census Bureau, in 2002 the poverty rate for African-American households was 24.1% and for Hispanic households 21.8%, but for non-Hispanic white households it was only 8%. Children who lived in minority families with a single parent were likely to have greatly reduced economic, educational, and social opportunities. Single parents were more likely to have a low income and less education and were more likely to be unemployed and to be renting a home or apartment or living in public housing.

Non-Traditional Families

Many single-parent families, however, are not single adult families; some single parents maintain a household

TABLE 2.2

Percentage of children under age 18 by presence of married parents in household, race, and Hispanic origin, selected years, 1980–2003
Race, Hispanic origin, and family type	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
— Not available.
aExcludes families where parents are not living as a married couple.
bBecause of data limitations, includes some families where both parents are present in the household but living as unmarried partners.
cBeginning in 2003, the Current Population Survey asked respondents to choose one or more races. All race groups discussed in this table from 2003 onward refer to people who indicated only one racial identity within the racial category presented. The use of the single–race population in this table does not imply that it is the preferred method of presenting or analyzing data.
dPersons of Hispanic origin may be of any race.
Note: Data for 1999, 2000, and 2001 use Census 2000 population controls. Data for 2000 onward are from the expanded Current Population Survey sample. Family structure refers to the presence of biological, adoptive, and stepparents in the child's household. Thus, a child with a biological mother and stepfather living in the household is said to have two married parents.
Two married parents family:
In the Current Population Survey, children live in a two-parent family if they are living with a parent who is married with his or her spouse present. This is not an indicator of the biological relationship between the child and the parents. The parent who is identified could be a biological, step, or adoptive parent. If a second parent is present and not married to the first parent, then the child is identified as living with a single parent.
Single parent family:
A "single" parent is defined as a parent who is not currently living with a spouse. Single parents may be married and not living with their spouse, they may be divorced, widowed, or never married. As with the identification of two parents described above, if a second parent is present and not married to the first, then the child is identified as living with a single parent.
SOURCE: "Table POP6. Family Structure and Children's Living Arrangements: Percentage of Children under Age 18 by Presence of Married Parents in Household, Race, and Hispanic Origin, Selected Years 1980–2003," America's Children in Brief: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2004, Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, 2004, http://childstats.gov/ac2004/tables/pop6.asp (accessed August 24, 2004)
Total
Two married parentsa	77	76	75	75	75	74	74	73	73	73	73	72	71	71	69	69	68	68	68	68	69	69	69	68
Mother onlyb	18	18	20	20	20	21	21	21	21	22	22	22	23	23	23	23	24	24	23	23	22	22	23	23
Father onlyb	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	5	5
No parent	4	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4
White, non–Hispanicc
Two married parentsa	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	81	80	79	79	79	78	77	77	76	77	77	78	77	77
Mother onlyb	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	15	15	16	16	16	16	16	17	16	16	16	16	16	16
Father onlyb	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	5	4	4	4	4	4
No parent	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	2	2	1	1	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	2	3	3
Blackc
Two married parentsa	42	43	42	41	41	39	41	40	39	38	38	36	36	36	33	33	33	35	36	35	38	38	38	36
Mother onlyb	44	43	47	51	50	51	51	50	51	51	51	54	54	54	53	52	53	52	51	52	49	48	48	51
Father onlyb	2	3	2	2	3	3	2	3	3	3	4	4	3	3	4	4	4	5	4	4	4	5	5	5
No parent	12	11	8	6	6	7	6	7	7	7	8	7	7	7	10	11	9	8	9	10	9	10	8	9
Hispanicd
Two married parentsa	75	70	69	68	70	68	66	66	66	67	67	66	65	65	63	63	62	64	64	63	65	65	65	65
Mother onlyb	20	23	25	27	25	27	28	28	27	28	27	27	28	28	28	28	29	27	27	27	25	25	25	25
Father onlyb	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	5	4	5	5	6
No parent	3	4	4	3	3	3	3	4	4	2	3	4	3	4	5	4	5	5	5	5	5	6	5	5

TABLE 2.3

Number, birth rate, and percentage of births to unmarried women, by age, race, and Hispanic origin of mother, 2002
		White		Black
Measure and age of mother	All races1	Total2	Non-Hispanic	Total2	Non-Hispanic	American Indian2, 3	Asian or Pacific Islander2	Hispanic4
— Data not available.
1Includes races other than white and black and origin not stated.
2Race and Hispanic origin are reported separately on the birth certificate. Race categories are consistent with the 1977 Office of Management and Budget guidelines. Data for persons of Hispanic origin are included in the data for each race group according to the mother's reported race.
3Includes births to Aleuts and Eskimos.
4Includes all persons of Hispanic origin of any race.
5Birth rates computed by relating total births to unmarried mothers, regardless of age of mother, to unmarried women aged 15–44 years.
6Birth rates computed by relating births to unmarried mothers aged 40 years and over to unmarried women aged 40–44 years.
Notes: For 48 states and the District of Columbia, marital status is reported on the birth certificate; for Michigan and New York, mother's marital status is inferred. Rates cannot be computed for unmarried non–Hispanic black women or for American Indian women because the necessary populations are not available.
SOURCE: Joyce A. Martin, Brady E. Hamilton, Paul D. Sutton, Stephanie J. Venture, Fay Menacher, and Martha L. Munson, "Table 17. Number, Birth Rate, and Percent of Births to Unmarried Women by Age, Race, and Hispanic Origin of Mother: United States, 2002," in "Births: Final Data for 2002," National Vital Statistics Reports, vol. 52, no. 10, National Center for Health Statistics, 2002, http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr52/nvsr52_10.pdf (accessed August 24, 2004)
	Number
All ages	1,365,966	904,461	528,535	404,864	395,538	25,297	31,344	381,466
Under 15 years	7,093	3,683	1,446	3,174	3,119	129	107	2,266
15–19 years	340,186	228,407	135,313	99,375	97,282	6,678	5,726	94,483
15 years	17,629	10,672	4,811	6,293	6,150	399	265	5,970
16 years	38,888	25,531	12,816	12,015	11,728	774	568	12,954
17 years	66,274	44,829	25,344	19,053	18,637	1,329	1,063	19,774
18 years	95,259	64,580	39,359	27,131	26,589	1,880	1,668	25,547
19 years	122,136	82,795	52,983	34,883	34,178	2,296	2,162	30,238
20–24 years	527,657	349,161	214,529	158,276	155,080	9,548	10,672	136,369
25–29 years	268,312	176,055	94,304	79,946	77,952	4,993	7,318	83,035
30–34 years	139,208	91,688	50,150	40,375	39,193	2,475	4,670	42,254
35–39 years	66,036	43,684	25,472	18,958	18,299	1,176	2,218	18,566
40 years and over	17,474	11,783	7,321	4,760	4,613	298	633	4,493
	Rate per 1,000 unmarried women in specified group
15–44 years5	43.7	38.9	27.8	66.2	—	—	21.3	87.9
15–19 years	35.4	30.4	22.1	64.8	—	—	13.4	66.1
15–17 years	20.8	17.5	11.5	39.9	—	—	7.5	43.0
18–19 years	58.6	51.0	38.8	104.1	—	—	22.2	105.3
20–24 years	70.5	61.6	46.1	119.2	—	—	26.5	131.4
25–29 years	61.5	56.8	38.5	85.9	—	—	27.5	123.1
30–34 years	40.8	38.3	26.0	49.9	—	—	28.6	88.1
35–39 years	20.8	19.4	13.5	24.9	—	—	18.7	51.3
40–44 years6	5.4	5.0	3.7	6.3	—	—	6.8	12.6
	Percent of births to unmarried women
All ages	34.0	28.5	23.0	68.2	68.4	59.7	14.9	43.5
Under 15 years	97.0	94.8	96.9	99.6	99.6	97.0	97.3	93.6
15–19 years	80.0	74.6	75.4	95.7	95.9	86.6	71.5	73.9
15 years	94.3	91.5	93.8	99.3	99.3	98.3	89.5	89.8
16 years	90.1	86.5	88.9	99.0	99.0	96.1	81.3	84.6
17 years	86.2	82.0	83.9	98.2	98.2	91.5	80.5	79.8
18 years	80.3	75.1	76.9	96.0	96.1	86.9	73.6	72.7
19 years	72.7	66.7	67.4	92.7	92.8	79.7	63.2	65.7
20–24 years	51.6	44.6	41.3	81.3	81.5	66.6	35.5	51.4
25–29 years	25.3	20.7	15.3	58.5	58.7	49.2	11.7	35.2
30–34 years	14.6	11.8	8.1	42.5	42.5	39.1	6.6	26.8
35–39 years	14.5	11.8	8.6	39.2	39.1	39.5	6.8	26.0
40 years and over	17.3	14.5	11.2	39.6	39.6	40.7	8.9	28.8

with an unmarried partner. In 1990 the Census Bureau sought to reflect changing lifestyles in America by asking for the first time whether unmarried couples maintained households together. Although in 2000 a slight majority of U.S. households (52%) were headed by married couples, a significant number of unmarried couples also maintained households together. According to the 2000 Census, 5.5 million unmarried couples cohabited in the United States. Most of these couples were opposite-sex couples, but one in nine of them were same-sex couples.

A significant portion of all coupled households in 2000 contained children under the age of eighteen. Nearly half (45.6%) of all married-couple households had children living within them, and almost as many opposite-sex partnered households, 43.1%, contained children. Same-sex partnered households also often contained children; nearly a quarter (22.3%) of households headed by male partners had children living in them, and a third (34.3%) of households headed by female partners had children living with them.

This Census data shows that many children are living in nontraditional family situations; in 2002 more than two million children lived in unmarried-couple households. This number represented a significant increase over previous

FIGURE 2.2

decades. According to the 1960 Census, only 197,000 children under the age of fifteen lived in opposite-sex, unmarried partner households; by 2002 this number had reached 1,654,000—more than eight times as many.

Figure 2.2 shows the dramatic differences in the proportion of children living with single parents and cohabiting single parents by race and ethnic group. Children from all backgrounds were much more likely to be living with a single mother (23%) than a single father (5%). But 33% of children living with single fathers also lived with cohabiting partners, compared to only 11% of children living with single mothers.

Grandparents

Grandparents sometimes provide housing for, and sometimes reside in, the homes of their children and grandchildren. According to the U.S. Census Bureau ("Grandchildren Living in the Home of their Grandparents: 1970 to Present," June 12, 2003), in 2002 3,681,000 grandchildren under the age of eighteen lived with grandparents. Of these, 1,658,000 lived with their mothers and grandparents; 275,000 lived with their fathers and grandparents; and nearly 1.3 million, or 1.8% of all children, lived with grandparents only with no parents present. This percentage remained fairly steady from 1970 to 2002, varying from a low of 1.3% in 1992 to a high of 2.1% in 1995. These caretaking grandparents were responsible for most of the basic needs (food, shelter, clothing) of one or more of the grandchildren living with them.

Living and caretaking arrangements of grandparents and grandchildren varied by race and ethnicity in 2002. African-American, Native American, and Hispanic grandparents were four times more likely to live with their grandchildren than white grandparents. However, Hispanic grandparents (34.7%) were less likely than African-American (51.7%) or Native American (56.1%) grandparents to be the primary caregivers for those grandchildren. Asian grandparents (20%) were least likely of all groups to be the primary caretakers for the grandchildren with whom they resided. (See Table 2.4.)

Grandparents also play a significant role in the lives of children living with a single parent. One out of ten children who lived with single mothers in 2002 were the grandchildren of the householder; 8% of children who lived with single fathers were living in a grandparent's household. When neither parent was present, 44% of the time children lived with and were cared for by their grandparents.

TABLE 2.4

Grandparents living with grandchildren, responsible for coresident grandchildren, and duration of responsibility, by race and Hispanic origin, 2000
	Race								Hispanic origin
						Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone				Not Hispanic or Latino
Characteristic	Total	White alone	Black or African American alone	American Indian and Alaska Native alone	Asian alone		Some other race alone	Two or races	Hispanic or Latino (of any race)	Total	White alone, not Hispanic or Latino
*Percent duration based on grandparents responsible for grandchildren. Percent distribution may not sum to 100 percent because of rounding.
SOURCE: Tavia Simmons and Jane Lawler Dye, "Table 1. Grandparents Living with Grandchildren, Responsible for Coresident Grandchildren, and Duration of Responsibility by Race and Hispanic Origin, 2000," in Grandparents Living with Grandchildren: 2000, U.S. Census Bureau, http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/c2kbr-31.pdf (accessed August 24, 2004)
Population 30 years old and over	158,881,037	126,715,472	16,484,644	1,127,455	5,631,301	169,331	5,890,748	2,862,086	14,618,891	144,262,146	119,063,492
Grandparents living with grandchildren	5,771,671	3,219,409	1,358,699	90,524	359,709	17,014	567,486	158,830	1,221,661	4,550,010	2,654,788
Percent of population 30 and over	3.6	2.5	8.2	8.0	6.4	10.0	9.6	5.5	8.4	3.2	2.2
Responsible for grandchildren	2,426,730	1,340,809	702,595	50,765	71,791	6,587	191,107	63,076	424,304	2,002,426	1,142,006
Percent of coresident grandparents	42.0	41.6	51.7	56.1	20.0	38.7	33.7	39.7	34.7	44.0	43.0
By duration of care (percent)*
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Less than 6 months	12.1	12.6	9.8	13.0	13.6	12.7	15.6	13.5	14.6	11.5	12.4
6 to 11 months	10.8	11.6	9.3	10.5	11.0	8.4	11.4	11.2	11.2	10.7	11.6
1 to 2 years	23.2	23.8	21.2	22.5	25.2	23.8	26.1	23.4	25.1	22.8	23.6
3 to 4 years	15.4	15.8	14.6	13.9	17.6	11.7	15.7	16.0	15.8	15.3	15.7
5 years to more	38.5	36.3	45.2	40.0	32.7	43.3	31.1	35.9	33.3	39.6	36.6

The homes maintained by grandparents without parents present were more likely to experience economic hardship than families with a parent present. According to the U.S. Census (Children's Living Arrangements and Characteristics: March 2002), of all grandchildren, 18% lived below the poverty line in 2002), 23% were not covered by health insurance, and 9% received public assistance. Among children who lived with their grandparents with their parents absent, the numbers were much higher: 30% were below the poverty line, 36% were not covered by health insurance, and 17% received public assistance. These numbers suggest that children who live with their grandparents without a parent present are at an economic disadvantage; grandchildren's presence in their grandparents' homes without an economic contribution from the middle generation appears to severely tax the economic resources of grandparents.

Foster Care and Adoption

There is currently no comprehensive federal registry system for adoptions, which can be arranged by government agencies, private agencies, and through private arrangements between birth mothers and adoptive parents with the assistance of lawyers. The federally funded National Center for Social Statistics collected information on all finalized adoptions from 1957 to 1975, but with the dissolution of the Center, very limited statistical information is now available. With the passage of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, there was a renewed effort to improve the data available about adoption. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), now tracks adoptions arranged through the foster care system.

AFCARS reported that on September 30, 2001, 542,000 children were living in foster homes with foster parents. Foster parents are trained people supervised by local social service agencies who provide space in their homes and care for children who have been neglected, abused, or abandoned, or whose parents are unable to care for them. According to the American Public Welfare Association, foster care is the most common type of substitute care, but children needing substitute care might also live in group homes, emergency shelters, child-care facilities, hospitals, correctional institutions, or on their own. It is becoming more difficult to place children in foster care. The number of potential foster care families is down, due in part to the fact that women, the primary givers of foster care, are entering the paid labor force in greater numbers.

AFCARS estimated that in fiscal year 2001, 290,000 children eighteen years old and younger entered foster care, with an average age of 8.6 years. A disproportionate share of children entering foster care were African-American—28% of children entering foster care were African-American, but only 17% of all Americans under age eighteen were African-American. White children were underrepresented among those entering foster care—46% were white, compared to the 64% of all children under the age of eighteen who were white. Hispanic and Native American/Alaska Native children were proportionally represented—16% entering foster care were Hispanic, and 3% were Native American/Alaska Native.

A child's stay in foster care can vary from just a few days to many years. Almost one in five of the children who left foster care in fiscal year 2001 had been in care less than a month (19%). Almost a third had been in care from one to eleven months (31%), another one-fifth in care from one to two years (19%), and almost a third had lived in foster care for more than two years (31%). (See Table 2.5.)

According to the AFCARS report, more than half of the children who left foster care in fiscal year 2001 were reunited with their parents (57%). (See Table 2.5.) Some of these children moved to a relative's or guardian's home (13%). Seven percent "aged out" of the system when they turned eighteen years old. Almost one out of five of the children who left foster care were adopted (18%). (See Table 2.6.) Of those adopted children, 25,117 were male and 24,883 were female. Foster parents adopted 59% of these children, relatives other than parents adopted 23%, and nonrelatives adopted 17%. While "traditional families"—married couples—made up two-thirds of those who adopted children from foster care (67%), a significant share were nontraditional families—30% of adopters were single women, 2% were single men, and 1% were unmarried couples.

In 1996 the federal government began to provide incentives to both potential adoptive parents and to states to move children into adoptive homes more quickly by instituting a $5,000 tax credit for adoptive parents to cover adoption expenses; the credit was $6,000 if the adopted child had special needs. Children with special needs were defined as those with physical, mental, or emotional problems; children needing to be adopted with siblings; or children who were difficult to place because of age, race, or ethnicity. In 2002 the tax credit was increased to $10,000 to cover adoption expenses for children without special needs; adoptive parents of special-needs children, including many children from foster care, received the full amount of the tax credit regardless of incurred expenses.

In addition, Congress passed the Adoption and Safe Families Act (PL 105–200) in 1997, providing fiscal incentives to states to move children from foster care into adoptive families more quickly. States that increase the number of adoptions of foster children (in a given year over a base year) receive a standard payment of $4,000 per adopted child and $6,000 for the adoption of a special needs child.

TABLE 2.5

Children who exited foster care, 2001
Notes: Deaths are attributable to a variety of causes including medical conditions, accidents and homicide. Using U.S. Bureau of the Census standards, children of Hispanic origin may be of any race. Beginning in fiscal year 2000, children could be identified with more than one race designation.
SOURCE: Adapted from "How Many Children Exited Foster Care during FY 2001?" in Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), no. 8, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, March 2003, http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/publications/afcars/report8.pdf (accessed August 24, 2004)
WHAT WERE THE AGES OF THE CHILDREN WHO EXITED CARE DURING FISCAL YEAR 2001?
Mean years	10.1
Median years	10.2
Less than 1 year	4%	10,923
1–5 years	27%	70,395
6–10 years	23%	59,544
11–15 years	24%	63,881
16–18 years	20%	53,253
19 or more years	2%	5,005
WHAT WERE THE LENGTHS OF STAY OF THE CHILDREN WHO EXITED FOSTER CARE DURING FISCAL YEAR 2001?
Mean months	22.1
Median months	11.8
Less than 1 month	19%	50,300
1–5 months	17%	44,969
6–11 months	14%	37,707
12–17 months	11%	29,270
18–23 months	8%	20,833
24–29 months	6%	15,234
30–35 months	5%	12,146
3–4 years	11%	28,604
5 or more years	9%	23,936
WHAT WAS THE RACE/ETHNICITY OF THE CHILDREN WHO EXITED CARE DURING FISCAL YEAR 2001?
American Native non-Hispanic	2%	6,544
Asian non-Hispanic	1%	2,689
Black non-Hispanic	30%	79,308
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander non-Hispanic	0%	1,046
Hispanic	15%	40,346
White non-Hispanic	45%	117,377
Unknown/unable to determine	4%	9,602
Two or more races	2%	6,087
non-Hispanic
WHAT WERE THE OUTCOMES FOR THE CHILDREN EXITING FOSTER CARE DURING FISCAL YEAR 2001?
Reunification with parent(s) or primary caretaker(s)	57%	148,606
Living with other relative(s)	10%	26,084
Adoption	18%	46,668
Emancipation	7%	19,008
Guardianship	3%	8,969
Transfer to another agency	3%	7,918
Runaway	2%	5,219
Death of child	0%	528

Despite these incentives, many children who enter foster care will never have a permanent family, but instead will age out of the system. On September 30, 2001, there were 126,000 children living in foster homes whose parents' rights had been terminated. These "waiting children" were disproportionately African-American. While 17% of all children under eighteen were African-American and 28% of children entering foster care were African-American, almost half (45%) of waiting children were African-American. The majority of these children lived in foster

TABLE 2.6

Children adopted from the public foster care system, 2001
HOW MANY CHILDREN WERE ADOPTED FROM THE PUBLIC FOSTER CARE SYSTEM IN FY 2001?
		50,000
WHAT IS THE GENDER DISTRIBUTION OF THE CHILDREN ADOPTED FROM THE PUBLIC FOSTER CARE SYSTEM?
Male	50%	25,117
Female	50%	24,883
HOW OLD WERE THE CHILDREN WHEN THEY WERE ADOPTED FROM THE PUBLIC FOSTER CARE SYSTEM?
Mean years	6.9
Median years	6.3
Less than 1 year	2%	993
1–5 years	46%	22,942
6–10 years	34%	16,759
11–15 years	16%	8,075
16–18 years	2%	1,181
19 or more years	0%	51
WHAT PROPORTION OF THE CHILDREN ADOPTED ARE RECEIVING AN ADOPTION SUBSIDY?
Yes	88%	44,013
No	12%	5,987
WHAT IS THE FAMILY STRUCTURE OF THE CHILD'S ADOPTIVE FAMILY?
Married couple	67%	33,251
Unmarried couple	1%	664
Single female	30%	14,975
Single male	2%	1,110
WHAT IS THE RACIAL/ETHNIC* DISTRIBUTION OF THE CHILDREN ADOPTED FROM THE PUBLIC FOSTER CARE SYSTEM?
American Indian/Alaska Native non-Hispanic	1%	715
Asian non-Hispanic	1%	260
Black non-Hispanic	35%	17,606
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander non-Hispanic	0%	164
Hispanic	16%	8,033
White non-Hispanic	38%	19,139
Unknown/unable to determine	5%	2,583
Two or more races non-Hispanic	3%	1,502

homes with nonrelatives while waiting to be adopted (59%). (See Table 2.7.)