Library Index :: Welfare and Welfare Reform in the United States :: Factors Affecting Poverty and Welfare Use - Assistance From The Government, Family Structure Of Welfare Recipients, Divorce, Never-married Adults

Factors Affecting Poverty and Welfare Use - Family Structure Of Welfare Recipients

Single-Parent Families

An increasing number of children are being raised by one parent, usually the mother. The proportion of single-parent FIGURE 5.1
Percentage of total income from various sources, by poverty status, 2000 families grew rapidly between 1970 and 1990, while the proportion dropped for families headed by married couples. Since then the structure of American households and families has remained relatively stable. According to the U.S. Census Bureau in America's Families and Living Arrangements (Washington, DC, 2001), in 2000, 76.8 percent of all family households were families headed by married couples, down from 82.5 percent in 1980 and 87 percent in 1970. Meanwhile, the proportion of single-parent families headed by males rose from 2.4 percent in 1970 to 2.9 percent in 1980 and 5.6 percent in 2000. (See Table 5.1.)

According to the Census Bureau, the proportion of single-parent families headed by females grew from 11 percent in 1970 to 15 percent in 1980 and to 17.6 percent in 2000. (See Table 5.1.) Single-parent families, especially single-parent families headed by women, usually earn much less than families headed by married couples.

The increase in the number of single-parent families was most dramatic among African-Americans and Hispanics and less so among whites. From 1970 to 2000, the proportion of white families headed by married couples declined from 89 percent to 81 percent. During the same period, the proportion of white single-parent families headed by males rose from 2.2 to 5.1 percent, and the proportion of white single-parent families headed by females grew from 9 to 13.9 percent. (See Table 5.1.)

America's Families and Living Arrangements also reported that among Hispanics, the proportion of families headed by married couples dropped from 81 percent in 1970 to 67.9 percent in 2000. The proportion of single-parent families headed by males rose from 4 to 8.7 percent, and the percentage of single-parent families headed by females increased from 15 to 23.4 percent. (See Table 5.1.)

The largest increase in the proportion of single-parent families occurred among African-Americans. While the

TABLE 5.1
Households by type and selected characteristics, March 2000
(In thousands, except average size)

Family households Nonfamily households
Other families
Characteristic All households Total Married couple Male householder Female householder Total Male householder Female householder
All households 104,705 72,025 55,311 4,028 12,687 32,680 14,641 18,039
Age of householder
15 to 24 years old 5,860 3,353 1,450 560 1,342 2,507 1,286 1,221
25 to 34 years old 18,627 13,007 9,390 886 2,732 5,620 3,448 2,172
35 to 44 years old 23,955 18,706 14,104 1,102 3,499 5,250 3,261 1,989
45 to 54 years old 20,927 15,803 12,792 713 2,299 5,123 2,583 2,541
55 to 64 years old 13,592 9,569 8,138 351 1,080 4,023 1,533 2,490
65 years old and over 21,744 11,587 9,437 416 1,735 10,157 2,530 7,626
Race and ethnicity of householder
White 87,671 60,251 48,790 3,081 8,380 27,420 12,204 15,215
Non-Hispanic 78,819 53,066 43,865 2,468 6,732 25,753 11,278 14,475
Black 12,849 8,664 4,144 706 3,814 4,185 1,876 2,309
Asian and Pacific Islander 3,337 2,506 1,996 179 331 831 432 399
Hispanic (of any race) 9,319 7,561 5,133 658 1,769 1,758 974 783
Presence of related children under 18
No related children 67,350 34,670 28,919 1,826 3,924 32,680 14,641 18,039
With related children 37,355 37,355 26,392 2,202 8,762 (X) (X) (X)
One related child under 18 15,493 15,493 9,897 1,321 4,275 (X) (X) (X)
Two related children under 18 14,020 14,020 10,567 644 2,809 (X) (X) (X)
Three related children under 18 5,510 5,510 4,238 185 1,087 (X) (X) (X)
Four or more related children under 18 2,332 2,332 1,690 52 591 (X) (X) (X)
Presence of own children under 18
No own children 70,100 37,420 30,062 2,242 5,116 32,680 14,641 18,039
With own children 34,605 34,605 25,248 1,786 7,571 (X) (X) (X)
With own children under 1 2,939 2,939 2,264 174 501 (X) (X) (X)
With own children under 3 8,786 8,786 6,784 441 1,561 (X) (X) (X)
With own children under 6 14,986 14,986 11,393 706 2,887 (X) (X) (X)
With own children under 12 25,885 25,885 19,082 1,235 5,568 (X) (X) (X)
Size of households
1 person 26,724 (X) (X) (X) (X) 26,724 11,181 15,543
2 people 34,666 29,834 22,899 1,730 5,206 4,832 2,607 2,225
3 people 17,152 16,405 11,213 1,106 4,086 746 570 177
4 people 15,309 15,064 12,455 682 1,927 245 179 66
5 people 6,981 6,894 5,723 307 864 87 70 17
6 people 2,445 2,413 1,916 130 366 32 26 6
7 or more 1,428 1,415 1,105 73 237 13 8 5
Average size 2.62 3.24 3.26 3.16 3.17 1.25 1.34 1.17
X Not applicable.
Note: Data are not shown separately for the American Indian and Alaska Native population because of the small sample size in the Current Population Survey in March 2000.
SOURCE: Jason Fields and Lynne M. Casper, "Households by Type and Selected Characteristics: March 2000," in America's Families and Living Arrangements, U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, DC, June 2001

proportion of families headed by married couples fell from 68 percent in 1970 to less than half (47.8 percent) in 2000, the proportion of single-parent families headed by men grew from 4 to 8.1 percent, and the percentage headed by women increased from 28 percent to 44 percent of African-American families. (See Table 5.1.)

Families with Children

Single-parent families make up a large proportion of families with children under eighteen years of age. The Census Bureau reported that in 2000, 27 percent of families with their own children were single-parent families. Two-parent families made up 73 percent of all family groups with their own children, down from 87.1 percent in 1970 and 78.5 percent in 1980. Meanwhile, the proportion of families with their own children headed by men rose from 1.3 percent in 1970 and 2.1 percent in 1980 to 5.2 percent in 2000. Similarly, the proportion of families headed by women with their own children rose from 11.5 percent in 1970 to 21.9 percent in 2000. (See Table 5.1.)

BY RACE. Table 5.2 shows the living arrangements of children in March 2002. African-American children are far more likely to live with a single parent than are white or Hispanic children. According to the U.S. Census Bureau study Children's Living Arrangements and Characteristics: March 2002 (Washington, DC, 2003), 53 percent of African-American children lived at that time with one parent; 48 percent of those children lived with their mothers only. Thirty percent of Hispanic children lived

TABLE 5.2
Children by age and family structure, March 2002
(In thousands)

Total under 18 years
Characteristic Number Under 1 year 1–2 years 3–5 years 6–8 years 9–11 years 12–14 years 15–17 years Total under 6 years Total 6–11 years
All children1 72,321 3,917 7,917 11,528 11,954 12,669 12,492 11,842 23,363 24,623
Two parents 49,666 2,778 5,552 8,028 8,307 8,615 8,521 7,864 16,358 16,922
Child of householder 48,843 2,710 5,410 7,890 8,191 8,490 8,388 7,766 16,009 16,680
Grandchild of householder 476 56 107 89 71 60 64 30 251 131
Other relative of householder 315 12 32 46 42 61 59 63 91 102
Nonrelative of householder 32 – 4 3 4 4 11 6 7 8
Householder has an unmarried partner-parent is not the householder or partner2 13 – 1 – – 5 6 – 2 5
Mother only 16,473 832 1,723 2,584 2,724 3,032 2,865 2,714 5,139 5,755
Child of householder 13,747 568 1,274 2,071 2,286 2,641 2,474 2,434 3,913 4,927
Grandchild of householder 1,657 215 355 366 246 191 180 104 936 438
Other relative of householder 524 36 61 59 72 74 120 103 155 146
Nonrelative of householder 545 13 34 88 120 125 92 73 135 245
Mother is householder in an unmarried partner household2 1,430 121 234 254 242 258 165 155 608 500
Mother is partner in an unmarried partner household2 369 4 10 52 93 89 67 55 65 182
Children under 15 years 13,759 832 1,723 2,584 2,724 3,032 2,865 (X) 5,139 5,756
In a POSSLQ household3 1,562 129 256 337 350 313 177 (X) 722 663
Father only 3,297 233 402 506 464 544 551 598 1,141 1,007
Child of householder 2,851 193 340 449 371 479 482 537 982 850
Grandchild of householder 275 33 42 47 50 38 44 22 121 87
Other relative of householder 92 5 12 6 15 15 15 24 23 30
Nonrelative of householder 78 2 8 5 28 12 9 15 14 40
Father is householder in an unmarried partner household2 1,022 139 212 222 119 131 110 88 574 250
Father is partner in an unmarried partner household2 59 1 2 2 26 11 6 10 6 36
Children under 15 years 2,699 233 402 506 464 544 551 (X) 1,141 1,008
In a POSSLQ household3 904 144 213 214 137 115 80 (X) 572 252
Neither parent 2,885 75 240 410 460 479 555 667 725 939
Grandchild of householder 1,273 26 113 196 224 238 243 233 335 462
Other relative of householder 802 24 67 101 97 127 160 226 192 224
Foster child 235 5 18 38 47 34 49 43 62 81
Nonrelative of householder 575 20 41 76 91 80 104 164 137 171
Householder has an unmarried partner2 216 9 13 32 36 40 43 43 54 76
Children under 15 years 2,218 75 240 410 460 479 555 (X) 725 939
In a POSSLQ household3 186 6 19 38 41 43 40 (X) 62 83
–Represents zero or rounds to zero.
X Not applicable.
1All people under age 18, excluding those living in group quarters, householders, subfamily reference people, and their spouses.
2If the parent is either the householder with an unmarried partner in the household or the unmarried partner of the householder, they are cohabiting based on this direct measure. Cohabiting couples where neither partner is the householder are not identified.
3POSSLQ (Persons of the Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters) is defined by the presence of only two people over age 15 in the household who are opposite sex, not related, and not married. There can be any number of people under age 15 in the household. The universe of children under age 15 is shown as the denominator for POSSLQ measurement.
SOURCE: Adapted from Jason Fields, "Table 1. Children by Age and Family Structure: March 2002," Children's Living Arrangements and Characteristics: March 2002, Current Population Reports, Population Characteristics, U.S. Census Bureau, June 2003 [Online] http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/p20-547.pdf [accessed January 15, 2004]

with one parent, while 70 percent lived in two-parent families. Twenty percent of white children lived with one parent, while 80 percent lived with two parents.

The same study reported that in 2002 a higher percentage of African-American children (9 percent) than whites (4 percent) and Hispanics (6 percent) lived with neither parent. In part, this is because African-American children are more likely to live with grandparents without the presence of either parent.


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