Since 1968, the percentage of children living with two parents has decreased, while the percentage of children living with their mother has merely increased. According to the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey, in 1968, 85 percent of children under the age of 18 lived with two parents (regardless of marital status); by 2020, 70 percent did (CPS).
In addition, since 1968, more families have experienced one parent being absent for significant periods of time. In 1968, 5 percent of families did not have any parental presence during childhood; by 2012, this number had increased to 12 percent. Finally, between 1968 and 2012, an increasing number of families do not meet criteria for stability or cohesion enough to be considered a family under U.S. law.
Looking only at families where both parents are present, these trends indicate that fewer children are growing up in two-parent households.
In fact, according to recent data from the Census Bureau, in 1960, almost 90 percent of children under the age of 18 lived with their two married parents. By 2008, this number was down to about 70 percent.
The decline is particularly notable when looking only at white families. In 1960, approximately 95 percent of white children under the age of 18 lived with their two married parents. By 2008, this number was down to about 75 percent.
There are several possible explanations for this trend.
For the great majority of children in the United States, married parenthood is still the norm. This should be tweeted. Today, married couples account for 68 percent of all households with children under the age of 18. They also account for almost all of our increase in marriage rates over the past few decades.
There are several ways to measure the "success" of American society. One simple measure is child well-being. Using statistics on income, health, and safety, we can see that overall child well-being has been improving over time. However not everyone is benefiting from this improvement. Black children continue to be at risk for poor outcomes in every dimension of child well-being. Children in single-parent families experience higher rates of poverty and abuse than those in married-couple families. And although marital status does not appear to be a barrier to success for male students, female students who marry their high school boyfriend or girlfriend are much more likely to live in poverty after they graduate.
Another way to measure social success is through opinions polls. In a survey conducted in 2016, 79 percent of respondents said that it is important for a married person to also be a good parent. Also notable is the fact that large percentages of respondents believed that it was important for: a married person to have own identity, be responsible, take care of themselves first.
Last year, an estimated 17.8 percent of individuals aged 25 to 34 resided in their parents' homes. In March 2020, over half of 18- to 29-year-olds in the United States lived with one or both of their parents, according to a Pew Research Center research based on data from the monthly Current Population Survey (CPS). The share has increased since 2016, when 46.4 percent of young adults were living at home.
In 2017, there were 77 million adult children in the United States - about half of all adults. Of these children, about 1 in 4 was living with his or her parent(s).
The number of young adults living at home appears to be on the rise. Between 2016 and 2019, the share of young adults who were living with their parents rose from 46.4 percent to 50.3 percent. At the same time, the share who were living on their own fell from 8.7 percent to 7.5 percent.
Among young white adults, more than nine in ten lived with their parents in 2017. This includes nearly 90 percent of young black adults and almost seven in ten young Hispanic adults.
Women are more likely than men to live at home after reaching adulthood - 51 percent vs. 44 percent, respectively. And while women still tend to live at home for longer periods of time, men appear to stay under their parents' roofs for about as long as women do.
Over the last ten years, parents' living arrangements have altered less. In 2020, 78 percent of parents raising children were married, up from 77 percent in 2010. In both 2010 and 2020, adults living with an unmarried, cohabiting partner accounted for 7% of parents with coresident children under the age of 18. These results are based on data from "Parenting: It's Not Just a Job," a survey of American parents conducted each year by the Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends project.
The share of parents who are married has increased since 2010, but the share who are not married has also increased. In 2020, one in five parents was divorced or separated, compared with one in eight in 2010. The share living with their spouse or partner but who are not married has also increased, from 3 to 7 percent between 2010 and 2020. This increase is due mainly to rising rates of cohabitation before marriage. Among adults who have ever been married, rates of divorce have remained relatively stable over time.
There are several factors that may be leading more people to get married. More young people are waiting to marry because of delays in starting families due to unemployment and poor housing markets during some of this period. Also, fewer marriages are ending in divorce these days; instead, couples are deciding to stay together while they work out their issues through counseling or other means.
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