Youth Indicators, 2005: Trends in the Well-Being of American Youth

Indicator 5: Family Formation

Figure 5. Percentage of family households of 20- to 24-year-olds with own children, by race/ethnicity of householder: 1990 and 2000

Percentage of family households of 20- to 24-year-olds with own children, by race/ethnicity of householder: 1990 and 2000
1Includes other race/ethnicity categories not separately shown.
2Includes Hispanics.
3Hispanics may be of any race.
NOTE: 'Own' children in a family are sons and daughters, including stepchildren and adopted children, of the householder. Excludes householders under 18 years, nieces, nephews, grandchildren, other related or unrelated children, subfamily reference persons, and their spouses. A household is defined as a person or group of persons who live in a housing unit. A family is defined as a group of two or more people (one of whom is the householder, the person in whose name the housing unit is owned or rented) living together and related by birth, marriage, or adoption.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Current Population Reports, Series P-20, Household and Family Characteristics, no. 447; Marital Status and Living Arrangements; and America's Families and Living Arrangements, 2001.

The proportion of Black family households headed by 20- to 24-year-olds with their own children declined from 1990 to 2000 (87 percent to 78 percent). During the same period, the proportion of White family households with children increased from 55 percent in 1990 to 61 percent in 2000. There were no measurable differences in the proportion of Hispanic family households with children between 1990 and 2000. The proportion of young adults who owned houses increased from 21 percent in 1990 to 28 percent in 2000. The proportion of young adults in married couple families decreased from 33 percent in 1990 to 27 percent in 2000. In contrast, the proportion in non-married-couple families, including single or unmarried-couple households, increased over the decade from 23 percent in 1990 to 29 percent in 2000.


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