Library Index :: Social Issues & Debate Topics
 

Family Marital Status and Living Arrangements - Marital Status, Teenage Pregnancy, Minority Family Structure, Living Arrangements Of Children, Home Ownership

Regardless of their composition, families are generally regarded as a cornerstone of society. For many years, particularly when the United States was primarily an agricultural society, extended families—multiple generations living in the same household—were considered typical. As the culture became more urban and mobile, nuclear families—two parents and their children—became the American norm.

Shifts in economics, employment, moral values, and social conditions, however, have led to an increasing number of single men and women living alone, cohabitations without marriage, and single-parent families. A growing number of children, especially minorities, are being raised by only one parent or by neither parent, as is the case of those being raised by grandparents or foster parents. The role and the makeup of families, particularly minority families, have been undergoing change.

Additional Topics

Family Marital Status and Living Arrangements - Marital Status

In March 2000 approximately 116 million Americans (age fifteen years and older) were married, up from ninety-five million in 1970 and 104.6 million in 1980. (See Table 2.1.) This figure includes both those who do and those who do not live with their spouses. However, the proportion of married people age eighteen years and over has continued to decrease. In 1970, 72 percent of this population was m…

Family Marital Status and Living Arrangements - Teenage Pregnancy

Over the generations, a major change in American attitudes has removed much of the social stigma from unwed teenage motherhood. Unmarried women of all ages are having children openly and with a regularity that was unheard of just a few generations ago. Many women do not feel the need to marry when they become pregnant. Many possible reasons are offered for the high rates of teenage motherhood. Am…

Family Marital Status and Living Arrangements - Minority Family Structure

The Bureau of the Census defines a family as two or more persons living together who are related by birth, marriage, TABLE 2.4 Percent reporting two or more races by specified race, 2000 TABLE 2.5 Birth rates for teenagers 15–19 years by age, race and Hispanic origin of mother, 1991, 1999, and 2000 [Rates are live births per 1,000 women in specified group] or adoption. A ho…

Family Marital Status and Living Arrangements - Living Arrangements Of Children

Changes in the marital circumstances of adults naturally affect the living arrangements of children. High divorce rates, an increased delay in first marriages, and more out-of-wedlock births have resulted in fewer children living with two parents. In 2000, 69.1 percent of children under age eighteen were living with two parents (not necessarily both natural parents), compared to 77 percent in 1980…

Family Marital Status and Living Arrangements - Home Ownership

For most Americans, owning one's home is the American dream. Unfortunately, for many Americans, especially minorities, being able to purchase a home can be difficult. Census Bureau figures revealed that in 2002, 74.5 percent of non-Hispanic white householders owned their homes, but only 47.3 percent of African-Americans, TABLE 2.7 Household relationship and living arrangements of child…

Combating Poverty: Hope for the Future? - Poverty Improves … Or Does It?, Antipoverty Campaigns Championed By The Rich And Famous, End Of Poverty? [next] [back] Demography - Minorities Are A Growing Percentage Of The Nation, Racial/ethnic Origin Classifications, Hispanics, Black Or African-americans

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