Skip Navigation
Digest of Education Statistics
2008 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 18. Number and percentage of family households, by family status and presence of own children under 18: Selected years, 1970 through 2007
Family status 1970 1980 1990 2000 2005 2006 2007 Change, 1970 to 1990 Change, 1990 to 2007
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
  In thousands Percent change
All families 51,456 (257.3) 59,550 (271.4) 66,090 (307.8) 72,025 (311.6) 77,010 (226.6) 77,402 (226.9) 78,425 (227.5) 28.4 18.7
Married-couple family 44,728 (243.6) 49,112 (252.7) 52,317 (283.3) 55,311 (289.5) 58,109 (210.4) 58,179 (210.4) 58,945 (211.3) 17.0 12.7
Without own children under 18 19,196 (168.7) 24,151 (187.3) 27,780 (218.1) 30,062 (230.5) 31,929 (168.8) 32,197 (169.4) 32,787 (170.6) 44.7 18.0
With own children under 18 25,532 (192.0) 24,961 (190.1) 24,537 (206.4) 25,248 (214.1) 26,180 (155.3) 25,982 (154.8) 26,158 (155.2) -3.9 6.6
One own child under 18 8,163 (112.5) 9,671 (122.0) 9,583 (133.0) 9,402 (136.2) 9,885 (99.6) 10,031 (100.2) 10,127 (100.7) 17.4 5.7
Two own children under 18 8,045 (111.7) 9,488 (120.9) 9,784 (134.3) 10,274 (142.1) 10,676 (103.3) 10,336 (101.7) 10,497 (102.4) 21.6 7.3
Three or more own children under 18 9,325 (119.9) 5,802 (95.3) 5,170 (98.5) 5,572 (105.9) 5,619 (75.9) 5,615 (75.8) 5,534 (75.3) -44.6 7.0
                                 
Other family, male house-holder, no spouse present 1,228 (44.2) 1,733 (52.5) 2,884 (73.9) 4,028 (90.4) 4,893 (70.9) 5,130 (72.6) 5,063 (72.1) 134.9 75.6
Without own children under 18 887 (37.6) 1,117 (42.2) 1,731 (57.4) 2,242 (67.7) 2,859 (54.5) 3,035 (56.1) 3,049 (56.2) 95.2 76.1
With own children under 18 341 (23.3) 616 (31.3) 1,153 (46.9) 1,786 (60.5) 2,034 (46.0) 2,095 (46.7) 2,015 (45.8) 238.1 74.8
One own child under 18 179 (16.9) 374 (24.4) 723 (37.2) 1,131 (48.2) 1,227 (35.8) 1,313 (37.0) 1,243 (36.1) 303.9 71.9
Two own children under 18 87 (11.8) 165 (16.2) 307 (24.2) 483 (31.6) 563 (24.3) 588 (24.8) 553 (24.1) 252.9 80.1
Three or more own children under 18 75 (10.9) 77 (11.1) 123 (15.3) 171 (18.8) 244 (16.0) 194 (14.3) 218 (15.1) 64.0 77.2
                                 
Other family, female house-holder, no spouse present 5,500 (92.8) 8,705 (116.0) 10,890 (141.4) 12,687 (156.9) 14,009 (117.3) 14,093 (117.6) 14,416 (118.9) 98.0 32.4
Without own children under 18 2,642 (64.7) 3,261 (71.8) 4,290 (89.9) 5,116 (101.6) 5,703 (76.4) 5,703 (76.4) 5,832 (77.2) 62.4 35.9
With own children under 18 2,858 (67.2) 5,445 (92.3) 6,599 (111.0) 7,571 (122.8) 8,305 (91.6) 8,389 (92.1) 8,585 (93.1) 130.9 30.1
One own child under 18 1,008 (40.1) 2,398 (61.6) 3,225 (78.1) 3,777 (87.6) 4,081 (64.9) 4,184 (65.7) 4,280 (66.4) 219.9 32.7
Two own children under 18 810 (35.9) 1,817 (53.7) 2,173 (64.2) 2,458 (70.9) 2,626 (52.2) 2,739 (53.3) 2,765 (53.6) 168.3 27.2
Three or more own children under 18 1,040 (40.7) 1,230 (44.2) 1,202 (47.9) 1,336 (52.4) 1,597 (40.8) 1,466 (39.1) 1,540 (40.1) 15.6 28.1
  Percentage of all families Change in percentage points
All families 100.0 (†) 100.0 (†) 100.0 (†) 100.0 (†) 100.0 (†) 100.0 (†) 100.0 (†)
Married-couple family 86.9 (0.19) 82.5 (0.20) 79.2 (0.22) 76.8 (0.23) 75.5 (0.16) 75.2 (0.16) 75.2 (0.16) -7.8 -4.0
Without own children under 18 37.3 (0.27) 40.6 (0.25) 42.0 (0.27) 41.7 (0.26) 41.5 (0.18) 41.6 (0.18) 41.8 (0.18) 4.7 -0.2
With own children under 18 49.6 (0.28) 41.9 (0.26) 37.1 (0.26) 35.1 (0.26) 34.0 (0.18) 33.6 (0.17) 33.4 (0.17) -12.5 -3.8
One own child under 18 15.9 (0.20) 16.2 (0.19) 14.5 (0.19) 13.1 (0.18) 12.8 (0.12) 13.0 (0.12) 12.9 (0.12) -1.4 -1.6
Two own children under 18 15.6 (0.20) 15.9 (0.19) 14.8 (0.19) 14.3 (0.19) 13.9 (0.13) 13.4 (0.13) 13.4 (0.13) -0.8 -1.4
Three or more own children under 18 18.1 (0.21) 9.7 (0.15) 7.8 (0.14) 7.7 (0.14) 7.3 (0.10) 7.3 (0.10) 7.1 (0.09) -10.3 -0.8
                                 
Other family, male house-holder, no spouse present 2.4 (0.09) 2.9 (0.09) 4.4 (0.11) 5.6 (0.12) 6.4 (0.09) 6.6 (0.09) 6.5 (0.09) 2.0 2.1
Without own children under 18 1.7 (0.07) 1.9 (0.07) 2.6 (0.09) 3.1 (0.09) 3.7 (0.07) 3.9 (0.07) 3.9 (0.07) 0.9 1.3
With own children under 18 0.7 (0.05) 1.0 (0.05) 1.7 (0.07) 2.5 (0.08) 2.6 (0.06) 2.7 (0.06) 2.6 (0.06) 1.1 0.8
One own child under 18 0.3 (0.03) 0.6 (0.04) 1.1 (0.06) 1.6 (0.07) 1.6 (0.05) 1.7 (0.05) 1.6 (0.05) 0.7 0.5
Two own children under 18 0.2 (0.02) 0.3 (0.03) 0.5 (0.04) 0.7 (0.04) 0.7 (0.03) 0.8 (0.03) 0.7 (0.03) 0.3 0.2
Three or more own children under 18 0.1 (0.02) 0.1 (0.02) 0.2 (0.02) 0.2 (0.03) 0.3 (0.02) 0.3 (0.02) 0.3 (0.02) # 0.1
                                 
Other family, female house-holder, no spouse present 10.7 (0.17) 14.6 (0.18) 16.5 (0.20) 17.6 (0.20) 18.2 (0.14) 18.2 (0.14) 18.4 (0.14) 5.8 1.9
Without own children under 18 5.1 (0.12) 5.5 (0.12) 6.5 (0.13) 7.1 (0.14) 7.4 (0.10) 7.4 (0.10) 7.4 (0.10) 1.4 0.9
With own children under 18 5.6 (0.13) 9.1 (0.15) 10.0 (0.16) 10.5 (0.16) 10.8 (0.11) 10.8 (0.11) 10.9 (0.12) 4.4 1.0
One own child under 18 2.0 (0.08) 4.0 (0.10) 4.9 (0.12) 5.2 (0.12) 5.3 (0.08) 5.4 (0.08) 5.5 (0.08) 2.9 0.6
Two own children under 18 1.6 (0.07) 3.1 (0.09) 3.3 (0.10) 3.4 (0.10) 3.4 (0.07) 3.5 (0.07) 3.5 (0.07) 1.7 0.2
Three or more own children under 18 2.0 (0.08) 2.1 (0.07) 1.8 (0.07) 1.9 (0.07) 2.1 (0.05) 1.9 (0.05) 2.0 (0.05) -0.2 0.1
† Not applicable.
# Rounds to zero.
NOTE: Own children are never-married sons and daughters, including stepchildren and adopted children, of the householder or married couple. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Standard errors appear in parentheses.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Current Population Reports, Series P20, Household and Family Characteristics: 1995; and America's Families and Living Arrangements: 2000 and 2005–2007, Current Population Survey (CPS), Annual Social and Economic Supplement, retrieved July 31, 2008, from http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/hh-fam/cps2007/tabF2-all.xls. (This table was prepared August 2008.)

2008 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest