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Digest of Education Statistics
2011 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 23. Number and percentage distribution of family households, by family structure and presence of own children under 18: Selected years, 1970 through 2010
Family structure
and presence of children
1970 1980 1990 2000 2005 2007 2008 2009 2010 Change, 1990 to 2000 Change, 2000 to 2010
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9   10 11 12
  Number (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) 78,425 (227.5) 77,873 (240.1) 78,850 (241.0) 78,833 (241.0) 9.0   (0.69) 9.5   (0.58)
Married-couple families. 44,728 (243.6) 49,112 (252.7) 52,317 (283.3) 55,311 (289.5) 58,109 (210.4) 58,945 (211.3) 58,370 (218.6) 59,118 (219.6) 58,410 (218.6) 5.7   (0.80) 5.6   (0.68)
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) 32,787 (170.6) 33,197 (174.7) 33,989 (176.5) 33,835 (176.1) 8.2   (1.19) 12.6   (1.04)
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) 26,158 (155.2) 25,173 (154.7) 25,129 (154.6) 24,575 (153.1) 2.9 ! (1.23) -2.7   (1.02)
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) 10,127 (100.7) 9,733 (99.3) 9,732 (99.3) 9,567 (98.5) -1.9   (1.97) 1.8 ! (1.81)
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) 10,497 (102.4) 9,886 (100.0) 9,861 (99.9) 9,658 (98.9) 5.0 ! (2.05) -6.0   (1.62)
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) 5,534 (75.3) 5,555 (75.6) 5,536 (75.5) 5,351 (74.3) 7.8 ! (2.90) -4.0   (2.26)
                                                 
Families with male householder,                                                
no spouse present 1,228 (44.2) 1,733 (52.5) 2,884 (73.9) 4,028 (90.4) 4,893 (70.9) 5,063 (72.1) 5,100 (72.5) 5,252 (73.6) 5,580 (75.8) 39.7   (4.76) 38.5   (3.63)
Without own children under 18 887 (37.6) 1,117 (42.2) 1,731 (57.4) 2,242 (67.7) 2,859 (54.5) 3,049 (56.2) 2,937 (55.3) 3,141 (57.1) 3,356 (59.0) 29.5   (5.81) 49.7   (5.23)
With own children under 18 341 (23.3) 616 (31.3) 1,153 (46.9) 1,786 (60.5) 2,034 (46.0) 2,015 (45.8) 2,162 (47.5) 2,111 (46.9) 2,224 (48.2) 54.9   (8.20) 24.5   (5.01)
One own child under 18 179 (16.9) 374 (24.4) 723 (37.2) 1,131 (48.2) 1,227 (35.8) 1,243 (36.1) 1,323 (37.2) 1,300 (36.9) 1,375 (37.9) 56.4   (10.45) 21.6   (6.17)
Two own children under 18 87 (11.8) 165 (16.2) 307 (24.2) 483 (31.6) 563 (24.3) 553 (24.1) 597 (25.0) 583 (24.7) 576 (24.6) 57.3   (16.12) 19.3 ! (9.31)
Three or more own children
       under 18
75 (10.9) 77 (11.1) 123 (15.3) 171 (18.8) 244 (16.0) 218 (15.1) 242 (15.9) 229 (15.5) 273 (16.9) 39.0 ! (23.11) 59.6 ! (20.15)
                                                 
Families with female householder,
     no spouse present
5,500 (92.8) 8,705 (116.0) 10,890 (141.4) 12,687 (156.9) 14,009 (117.3) 14,416 (118.9) 14,404 (119.7) 14,480 (120.0) 14,843 (121.4) 16.5   (2.09) 17.0   (1.73)
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) 5,832 (77.2) 6,030 (78.7) 6,086 (79.1) 6,424 (81.2) 19.3   (3.44) 25.6   (2.96)
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) 8,585 (93.1) 8,374 (92.4) 8,394 (92.5) 8,419 (92.6) 14.7   (2.68) 11.2   (2.18)
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) 4,280 (66.4) 4,104 (65.2) 4,185 (65.8) 4,207 (66.0) 17.1   (3.93) 11.4   (3.12)
Two own children under 18 810 (35.9) 1,817 (53.7) 2,173 (64.2) 2,458 (70.9) 2,626 (52.2) 2,765 (53.6) 2,675 (52.8) 2,696 (53.0) 2,714 (53.2) 13.1 ! (4.67) 10.4 ! (3.85)
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) 1,540 (40.1) 1,594 (40.8) 1,514 (39.8) 1,499 (39.6) 11.1 ! (6.21) 12.2 ! (5.31)
  Percentage distribution of all families Change in percentage points
All families 100.0 (†) 100.0 (†) 100.0 (†) 100.0 (†) 100.0 (†) 100.0 (†) 100.0 (†) 100.0 (†) 100.0 (†)   (†)   (†)
Married-couple families 86.9 (0.19) 82.5 (0.20) 79.2 (0.22) 76.8 (0.23) 75.5 (0.16) 75.2 (0.16) 75.0 (0.16) 75.0 (0.16) 74.1 (0.16) -2.4   (0.31) -2.7   (0.28)
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) 41.8 (0.18) 42.6 (0.18) 43.1 (0.18) 42.9 (0.18) -0.3 ! (0.37) 1.2   (0.32)
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) 33.4 (0.17) 32.3 (0.17) 31.9 (0.17) 31.2 (0.17) -2.1   (0.36) -3.9   (0.31)
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) 12.9 (0.12) 12.5 (0.12) 12.3 (0.12) 12.1 (0.12) -1.4   (0.26) -0.9   (0.22)
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 (0.12) 12.7 (0.12) 12.5 (0.12) 12.3 (0.12) -0.5 ! (0.27) -2.0   (0.22)
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) 7.1 (0.09) 7.1 (0.09) 7.0 (0.09) 6.8 (0.09) -0.1 ! (0.20) -0.9   (0.17)
                                                 
Families with male householder,                                                
no spouse present 2.4 (0.09) 2.9 (0.09) 4.4 (0.11) 5.6 (0.12) 6.4 (0.09) 6.5 (0.09) 6.5 (0.09) 6.7 (0.09) 7.1 (0.09) 1.2   (0.17) 1.5   (0.15)
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) 3.8 (0.07) 4.0 (0.07) 4.3 (0.07) 0.5   (0.13) 1.1   (0.12)
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) 2.6 (0.06) 2.8 (0.06) 2.7 (0.06) 2.8 (0.06) 0.7   (0.11) 0.3 ! (0.10)
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) 1.6 (0.05) 1.7 (0.05) 1.6 (0.05) 1.7 (0.05) 0.5   (0.09) 0.2 ! (0.08)
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) 0.7 (0.03) 0.8 (0.03) 0.7 (0.03) 0.7 (0.03) 0.2   (0.06) 0.1 ! (0.05)
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) 0.3 (0.02) 0.3 (0.02) 0.1 ! (0.03) 0.1 ! (0.03)
                                                 
Families with female householder,                                                
no spouse present 10.7 (0.17) 14.6 (0.18) 16.5 (0.20) 17.6 (0.20) 18.2 (0.14) 18.4 (0.14) 18.5 (0.14) 18.4 (0.14) 18.8 (0.14) 1.1   (0.29) 1.2   (0.25)
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) 7.7 (0.10) 7.7 (0.10) 8.1 (0.10) 0.6 ! (0.19) 1.0   (0.17)
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) 10.9 (0.11) 10.8 (0.11) 10.6 (0.11) 10.7 (0.11) 0.5 ! (0.23) 0.2 ! (0.20)
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) 5.5 (0.08) 5.3 (0.08) 5.3 (0.08) 5.3 (0.08) 0.4 ! (0.17) 0.1 ! (0.14)
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) 3.4 (0.07) 3.4 (0.07) 3.4 (0.07) 0.1 ! (0.14) #   (†)
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) 2.0 (0.05) 2.0 (0.05) 1.9 (0.05) 1.9 (0.05) #   (†) #   (†)
†Not applicable.    
#Rounds to zero.    
!Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is 30 percent or greater.
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 2005–2010, Current Population Survey (CPS), Annual Social and Economic Supplement, retrieved July 25, 2011, from http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hh-fam/cps2010.html. (This table was prepared July 2011.)

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