living arrangements of children: 1996 - census.gov51 percent in 1991 to over 56 per-cent by 1996....

1

Demographic Programs

U.S. Census Bureau

U S C E N S U S B U R E A UHelping You Make Informed Decisions

U.S. Department of CommerceEconomics and Statistics Administration

U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

P70-74

Living Arrangements of ChildrenHousehold Economic Studies

Issued April 2001

CurrentPopulationReportsBy Jason Fields

1996

INTRODUCTION AND HIGHLIGHTS

Children live in a variety of family arrange-ments, some of which are complex, as aconsequence of the marriage, divorce, andremarriage patterns of their parents. In ad-dition, one-third of children today are bornout-of-wedlock and may grow-up in single-parent families or spend significant por-tions of their lives with other relatives orstepparents. This report examines the di-versity of children’s living arrangements inAmerican households. The data are fromthe household relationship module of theSurvey of Income and Program Participa-tion (SIPP), collected in the fall of 1996,and update a 1994 study that presentedestimates from the 1991 SIPP panel of the

number of children growing up in variousfamily situations.1

As in the earlier survey, detailed informationwas obtained on each person’s relationship toevery other person in the household, permit-ting the identification of many types of rela-tives, and parent-child and sibling relation-ships. This report describes family situationsbeyond the traditional nuclear family of par-ents and their children and includes discus-sions of extended family households withrelatives and nonrelatives who may contrib-ute substantially to a child’s developmentand to the household’s economic well-being.

This report also examines the degree towhich children are living in single-parentfamilies, with stepparents and adoptive par-ents, or with no parents and in the care ofanother relative or guardian. Of special inter-est in this report are new estimates of chil-dren living with unmarried cohabiting par-ents (either with both of their biologicalparents who are not married to each other, orwith a parent and an unmarried partner whois not the child’s biological parent — see defi-nitions box for descriptions of these terms).

The statistics in this report are based onnational-level estimates of children (indi-viduals under 18) and their living situationsfrom August through November 1996.These findings pertain to all children, re-gardless of the child’s marital or parentalstatus. The estimates represent the livingarrangements for children averaged overthis 4-month period.

1Stacy Furukawa, The Diverse Living Arrangements ofChildren: Summer 1991, Current Population Reports, P70-38, Washington, DC, U.S. Census Bureau, 1994.

What’s in this Report?

INTRODUCTION AND HIGHLIGHTS

LIVING ARRANGEMENTS OF CHILDREN —

AN OVERVIEW

THE TRADITIONAL NUCLEAR FAMILY

CHILDREN LIVING WITH TWO PARENTS:

BIOLOGICAL, STEP-, AND ADOPTIVE

CHILDREN LIVING WITH UNMARRIED

PARENTS

CHILDREN IN BLENDED FAMILIES

ADOPTED CHILDREN

CHILDREN WITH SIBLINGS

THE EXTENDED FAMILY HOUSEHOLD

Relatives in Extended FamiliesMultigenerational Households and Children With Grandparents

HISTORICAL TRENDS

2 U.S. Census Bureau

Some major findings of this reportinclude the following:

• There were 71.5 million childrenunder 18 years of age living inhouseholds.2 The majority ofthese children (50.7 million) livedwith both parents. Only 3 percentof these children (1.5 million)lived in unmarried-couple families(parents who were not married toeach other).

• Among the 18.2 million childrenliving with only one unmarriedparent, 1.8 million lived withtheir father.

2The estimates in this report are based onresponses from a sample of the population. Aswith all surveys, estimates may vary from theactual (population) values because of samplingvariation, or other factors. All statementsmade in this report have undergone statisticaltesting and meet U.S. Census Bureau standardsfor statistical accuracy.

• There were 10.3 million childrenwho lived in an extendedhousehold containing at leastone person (of any age) otherthan a member of their nuclearfamily (parents and siblings);4.1 million of these childrenlived in extended householdswith grandparents. An addi-tional 1.3 million children wereliving with their grandparents inhouseholds without any parentpresent.

• Of the 1.5 million children livingin households with adoptive par-ents, 47 percent lived with twoadoptive parents.

• Seventeen percent all of children(11.8 million) lived in blendedfamilies in 1996. Of these chil-dren, 4.9 million lived with atleast one stepparent.

• There were 15.3 million childrenliving in households with nobrothers or sisters present.Among the 56.2 million childrenliving with siblings, 9.5 millionlived with at least one step- orhalf-sibling.

LIVING ARRANGEMENTS OFCHILDREN — AN OVERVIEW

Many factors influence the diversity ofchildren’s living arrangements. Theseinclude parental divorce, remarriage,out-of-wedlock childbearing, cohabi-tation of unmarried parents, thegrowth of multigenerational families,and parental mortality. Immigrationmay also influence the type of house-hold and family that children grow upin if families sponsor and providehousing for their immigrant relativesand friends. This is especially impor-tant in the analyses of the living ar-rangements of Hispanic children,3 asHispanics constitute a major compo-nent of new immigrants to the UnitedStates. Both cultural factors and de-mographic characteristics of thepopulation and family patterns influ-ence racial differences in current andfuture family structure.4 Throughoutthis report variations in living arrange-ments of children are shown by raceand Hispanic origin.

In 1996, 71 percent of the 71.5 mil-lion children under age 18 lived intwo-parent households, about 25 per-cent lived in single-parent house-holds, and the remaining 4 percentlived in households without eitherparent (see Table 1). A large majorityof White non-Hispanic (79 percent),and Asian and Pacific Islander (84 per-cent) children lived with two parents,

3People of Hispanic origin may be of anyrace. Based on the 1996 Survey of Income andProgram Participation (Wave 2), 5 percent ofthe Black population under 18 years, 15 per-cent of the American Indian and Alaska Nativepopulation under 18 years, and 4 percent ofthe Asian and Pacific Islander population under18 years were also of Hispanic origin.

4S. Philip Morgan et. al. “Racial differences inhousehold and family structure at the turn ofthe century,” American Journal of Sociology,Vol. 98, January 1993. Pages 798-828.

Definitions

Children are individuals under 18 years old. This differs from the defi-nition of children used in other reports because it includes household-ers and spouses of the householder (0.2 percent of children). Thesechildren are included so that the living arrangements of all children canbe discussed.

Adopted children are determined by the reporting of the survey respon-dent alone and not by any administrative records.

A traditional nuclear family is defined in this report as a family in whicha child lives with two married biological parents and with only full sib-lings if siblings are present. No other people are present in the house-hold under this definition, not even close relatives of the family.

Cohabiting parent-child families are those in which the child’s parent isliving with at least one opposite sex, nonrelated adult. This additionaladult may or may not be the biological parent of the child.

Blended families are formed when remarriages occur or when childrenliving in a household share one or no parents. The presence of a step-parent, stepsibling, or half-sibling designates a family as blended.

An extended family household is a household where a child lives with atleast one parent and someone outside of their nuclear family, eitherrelatives or nonrelatives.

3U.S. Census Bureau

more than twice as high as theproportion for Black children (38 per-cent) and well above the proportionfor Hispanic children (68 percent). Amuch higher proportion of Black chil-dren lived with a single parent(54 percent) compared with childrenof other groups: 19 percent of Whitenon-Hispanic children and 28 per-cent of Hispanic children lived withonly a single parent in 1996 (seeFigure 1).

In 1996, 4.9 million children livedwith at least one stepparent. In ad-dition, 2.6 million lived with neitherof their parents; this figure included0.3 million children living with oneor more foster parents. Only 49 per-cent of foster children are White non-Hispanic, while Black and Hispanicchildren each represent about25 percent of foster children. Rela-tives, usually grandparents, cared for

Table 1.Living Arrangements of Children by Race and Ethnicity: Fall 1996(In thousands)

Living arrangements

All races White

Whitenon-

Hispanic Black

AmericanIndian and

AlaskaNative

Asian andPacific

Islander Hispanic1

Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Living with —Two parents2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Both married to each other . . . . . . . .In a traditional nuclear family3 . . . . . .

One parent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Mother only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Father only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Neither parent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Grandparents only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Other relatives only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Nonrelatives only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Other arrangement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

At least 1 stepparent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .At least 1 foster parent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

71,494

50,68549,18639,74618,16516,340

1,8252,6441,266

688622

69

4,902313

56,212

43,46642,33334,85911,1319,5991,5331,615

637447622

46

4,066224

46,657

36,83736,11030,132

8,6327,2741,3581,188

501272383

32

3,556153

11,631

4,3974,1262,9856,3206,088

232915571199122

22

64986

1,073

667605395345320

25623419

9-

942

2,578

2,1562,1231,507

369333

3654242281

932

10,428

7,1126,6275,0242,8702,689

181445143183105

14

56375

- Represents zero or rounds to zero.1People of Hispanic origin may be of any race.2In the SIPP data children identify both of their parents regardless of their marital status. This means that both married and unmarried

parents are included in this category in this table. This represents a difference from the CPS because only married parents are recorded intwo parent households. Correspondingly, there are more children in two parent households in the SIPP, and more in single parent house-holds in the CPS.

3Children in a traditional nuclear family live with both biological parents and, if siblings are present, with full brothers and sisters. Noother household members are present.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 1996 Survey of Income and Program Participation, Wave 2.

Figure 1.

Children by Presence of Parents: Fall 1996

1People of Hispanic origin may be of any race.Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation, 1996 Wave 2.

(Percent distribution)

Neither parent

Father only

Mother only

Two parents

43 3

8 62

43 3 3

2 21 2

2317 16

52

30

13

26

7177 79

38

62

84

68

Hispanic1Asianand

PacificIslander

AmericanIndianand

AlaskaNative

BlackWhitenon-Hispanic

WhiteAll races


the majority of children living withneither parent. Higher proportionsof Black children lived with theirgrandparents (62 percent) than ei-ther White non-Hispanic or Hispanicchildren (42 percent and 32 per-cent, respectively).

THE TRADITIONALNUCLEAR FAMILY

The discussion of the turmoil andchanges in the American family thatpreoccupied academic journals andthe popular press during recent de-cades continues.5 However, data forthe 1990s indicate that the rapid in-crease in the proportion of childrengrowing up in a single-parent house-hold may have leveled off.6 Datafrom the SIPP show an increase inthe proportion of children living intraditional two-parent nuclear fami-lies (see definitions box) from51 percent in 1991 to over 56 per-cent by 1996. The symbolic impor-tance of the traditional family restsin its compactness and a historicalconcept of home. Mother and fatherand their biological children functionas a single unit without any other in-dividuals (other relatives, in-laws, ornonrelatives) living with them on adaily basis. Fifty-six percent of allchildren and 78 percent of childrenliving with two parents were living intraditional nuclear families in the fallof 1996 (see Figure 2).

A smaller proportion of all Black chil-dren lived in traditional nuclear fami-lies (26 percent) than children inother racial/ethnic groups (65 per-cent of White non-Hispanic children,58 percent of Asian and Pacific Is-lander children, and 48 percent ofHispanic children). The difference inthe proportion in traditional nuclearfamilies is due primarily to the

5Ben J. Wattenberg, The Birth Dearth, PharosBooks, New York, NY, 1987.

6Kenneth Bryson and Lynne Casper, House-hold and Family Characteristics: March 1997,Current Population Reports, P20-509, Washing-ton, DC, U.S. Census Bureau, 1998.

difference in the propensity to livewith both biological parents.

Among children in two-parent fami-lies,7 the difference between Blackand White non-Hispanic children liv-ing in traditional nuclear families(68 percent and 82 percent, respec-tively) persists, though the differenceis not as large as among all children.However, the percentage of Blackchildren in traditional nuclear fami-lies (68 percent) is similar to the per-centages for Asian and Pacific Is-lander children and Hispanic children(70 and 71 percent, respectively) incomparable families. All of theseproportions are significantly higherthan the percentage of American In-dian and Alaska Native children intraditional nuclear families (59 per-cent).

7The percentage of children in a traditionalnuclear family of those children living with twoparents is higher than the percentage in a tra-ditional nuclear family of all children; this issimply a factor of the change in the denomina-tor for these calculations.

CHILDREN LIVINGWITH TWO PARENTS:BIOLOGICAL, STEP-, ANDADOPTIVE

In 1996, about 50.7 million childrenlived with two parents, of whom88 percent (44.7 million) lived withtheir biological mother and biologi-cal father (see Table 2). An addi-tional 9 percent (4.7 million) livedwith a biological parent and a step-parent, usually with a biologicalmother and stepfather (3.7 million).Just over 2 percent of children livingwith two parents (1.3 million) livedwith either two adoptive parents or acombination of an adoptive parentand a biological or a stepparent.

Stepparents and adoptive parentsare an increasingly important com-ponent of the two-parent family. In1996, 5.2 million children lived withone biological parent and either astepparent or adoptive parent, up

Figure 2.

Children Living in Traditional Nuclear Families: Fall 1996


(In percent)All childrenChildren in two parent households

Hispanic1

Asian andPacific Islander

American Indianand Alaska Native

Black

Whitenon-Hispanic

White

All races56

78

62

80

65

82

26

68

37

59

59

70

48

71

5U.S. Census Bureau

from 4.5 million in 1991. Amongchildren in two-parent families,about 91 percent of Hispanic andAsian and Pacific Islander childrenlive with both biological parents,higher than any of the other racegroups shown on Table 2. Black(83 percent) and American Indianand Alaska Native children (81 per-cent) have the lowest percentages.

Among the 702,000 children livingwith two adoptive parents in 1996,a disproportionate percentage wereAsian and Pacific Islander; makingup 13 percent of adopted children,but only 4 percent of all children.In addition 548,000 children livedwith one adoptive parent and anonadoptive parent (biological orstep). Most of these children(87 percent) were living with theirbiological mother and an adoptivefather; the adoptive fathers were,in all likelihood, initially stepfa-thers. Often, living arrangementsof children are simply dichoto-mized by whether children live withonly one or with both parents.These statistics illustrate that evenamong children raised by two

parents, a considerable variationexists in the blending of parentalorigins either as biological, step, oradoptive parents.

CHILDREN LIVING WITHUNMARRIED PARENTS

Out-of-wedlock childbearing and di-vorce among parents often results inchildren living with an unmarriedparent for significant portions oftheir childhood. A 1984 study esti-mated that almost half of childrenunder 16 would someday live in asingle-parent household.8 Data fromthe SIPP can be used to profile theliving arrangements of children wholive with their unmarried parent.

Table 3 shows that in 1996,19.7 million children (28 percent ofall children) lived with unmarriedparents. It is particularly strikingthat 57 percent of Black childrenlived with unmarried parents. Re-gardless of race, however, 83 per-cent of children with unmarried

8Larry L. Bumpass, “Children and MaritalDisruption: A Replication and Update,” Demog-raphy: Vol. 21, No. 1, February 1984. Pages71 – 82.

parents resided only with theirmother (16.3 million).

The rapid increase in cohabitationamong adults over the past severaldecades9 has led to significant pro-portions of children living with par-ents who are cohabiting with part-ners. In 1996, there were 3.3 millionchildren living with an unmarriedparent and the parent’s partner,representing about 5 percent of allchildren or 17 percent of childrenliving with unmarried parents (seeFigure 3).

Hispanic and American Indian andAlaska Native children were aslikely as White non-Hispanic

9Lynne M. Casper, Philip N. Cohen, and TaviaSimmons. How Does POSSLQ Measure Up? : His-torical Estimates of Cohabitation, Working Pa-per Series No. 36. Washington, DC, U.S. CensusBureau, 1999. By definition, all of the childrenliving with two biological unmarried parentslive in a cohabiting couple household. Underthe definitions used in previous data collec-tions, these children would most likely havebeen recorded as living with a mother only andan adult nonrelative. These differences in defi-nition of a cohabiting household could accountfor some of the observed differences between1996 and 1991 in these proportions; addi-tional comparisons with earlier cohabitationestimates are not shown.

Table 2.Children Living With Two Parents by Their Biological, Step, and Adoptive Statusby Race and Ethnicity: Fall 1996(In thousands)

Characteristics of parents

All races White

Whitenon-

Hispanic Black

AmericanIndian and

AlaskaNative

Asian andPacific

Islander Hispanic1

Children living with two parents2 . . . . . . . .

Living with2—Biological mother and father . . . . . . . . . . .Biological mother and stepfather . . . . . . .Biological father and stepmother . . . . . . .Adoptive mother and father . . . . . . . . . . . .Other combination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Adoptive mother and biological fatherAdoptive mother and stepfather . . . . .Adoptive father and biological motherAdoptive father and stepmother . . . . .

50,685

44,7083,7231,004

702548

3723

4799

43,466

38,5393,099

854534440

2920

3883

36,837

32,4962,693

761496389

2520

3413

4,397

3,6565051054586

8-

78-

667

53858263510

--73

2,156

1,97661198812

-363

7,112

6,4764351133851

4-

47-

- Represents zero or rounds to zero.

1People of Hispanic origin may be of any race.2Includes mothers and fathers not currently married to e

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Pr

ach other.

ogram Participation, 1996 Wave 2.


children to live with a cohabiting 45 percent of Black children in com- ing arrangement artificially low.parent (23 percent, 26 percent, and parable households. Also, characteristics of the marriage20 percent respectively of children market and labor market that haveliving with unmarried parents). One Only 9 percent of Black children who contributed to high proportions ofreason Hispanic children may be lived with an unmarried parent also Black mothers remaining single, maythis likely to be in families with co- lived with a cohabiting parent, a pro- be just as salient when they makehabiting couples, especially if their portion significantly lower than that decisions about forming cohabitingparents were born outside the of any other race group shown in unions.United States, is that consensual Figure 3, except Asian and Pacific Is-

unions have historically been more lander children. A much higher pro- As mentioned, most children who

common as precursors to formal portion of Black children are living lived with an unmarried parent were

marriages in Latin American coun- with unmarried parents (57 percent) more likely to live with their mother

tries. In fact, among the 760,000 than the child population as a whole than with their father. Only 1.8 mil-

Hispanic children living in unmarried- (28 percent). Difficulty in measuring lion children (9 percent of children

couple families in 1996, 64 percent shorter, occasional, or transient living with unmarried parents) lived

resided with both their mother and unions that may be considered co- with their father without their

father, in contrast to 38 percent of habiting relationships could make mother present, including 288,000

White non-Hispanic children and the proportion of children in this liv- children (16 percent) who lived with

Table 3.Children Living With Unmarried Parent(s) by Presence of Other Adults and Race andEthnicity: Fall 1996(Numbers in thousands)

Living arrangement

All races White

Whitenon-

Hispanic Black

AmericanIndian and

AlaskaNative

Asian andPacific

Islander Hispanic1

Children living with (an) unmarriedparent(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Children living with cohabiting

parent(s)2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Percent of children living with

unmarried parent(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Living with mother, not father3 . . . . . . . . .4With female other adult relative . . . . . .

4With male other adult relative . . . . . . .5With female adult nonrelative . . . . . . .

5With male adult nonrelative . . . . . . . . .

Living with father, not mother3 . . . . . . . . .4With female other adult relative . . . . . .



Living with both mother and father3 . . . . .4With female other adult relative . . . . . .



19,663

3,285

16.7

16,3402,7821,822

3031,498

1,825284168288

25

1,4996424

13947

12,264

2,529

20.6

9,5991,3731,055

2191,155

1,533244149241

17

1,1335619

11725

9,358

1,883

20.1

7,274976711197957

1,358181100200

14

72724

66812

6,591

597

9.1

6,0881,222

63969

286

232321340

6

27125

2211

407

104

25.6

3207736

-34

25567-

622--

12

402

55

13.7

333110921522

363--2

336---

3,355

760

22.7

2,68947040526

234

181635441

4

48531125320


1People of Hispanic origin may be of any race.2Includes children living with: (1) their mother and an adult male nonrelative who is not their father (1,538,000); (2) their father and an

adult female nonrelative who is not their mother (292,000); and (3) with their mother and father who are not married to each other(1,499,000).

3Sub-categories are not mutually exclusive, and the parent(s) may be biological, step, or adopted.4The category other adult relative does not include siblings.5Only includes adult nonrelatives who are not married spouse present.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation, 1996 Wave 2.

7U.S. Census Bureau

fathers who were cohabiting with an the father of their children. In allunmarried partner. If the fathers likelihood, these circumstanceswho were cohabiting with the arose from marital disruptions wherechildren’s mothers are included the mother became the custodial(1.5 million), there were parent or when the child was born3.3 million children who lived with out-of-wedlock and the parents didtheir unmarried fathers in 1996 not marry or choose to live together.(17 percent of children living with an However, in the instances where chil-unmarried parent). dren are living with their fathers, it is

more common that their mothers areAmong those children living with also living with them in an arrange-their unmarried fathers, which chil- ment functioning as a family.dren were most likely to reside withboth of their parents? In 1996, CHILDREN IN BLENDED73 percent of Hispanic children living FAMILIESwith their unmarried fathers also

Blended families typically are formedlived with their mothers, comparedwhen remarriages occur and whenwith 54 percent of Black children andstepparents enter the household ac-35 percent of White non-Hispaniccompanied by their children fromchildren.previous unions, thus creating step-

The overall pattern of living arrange- parents and stepsiblings among the

ments of children with unmarried children in the newly formed family.

parents clearly indicates that women Blended families are also formed, forexample, when a remarried parentare the primary or custodial parentshas a child with his or her newof children who are not living in mar-spouse, thus producing a newried-couple families, and that mostbrother or sister who is a half-siblingunmarried mothers do not live withto a child from a previous union.

Figure 4 shows the proportion ofchildren who were in blended fami-lies by race and the number of par-ents they were living with. The moststriking feature is the high propor-tion of Black children (20 percent)living in blended families (about20 percent of American Indian andAlaska Native children were also inblended families, but this level wasnot significantly different from eitherWhite non-Hispanic or Black chil-dren). High rates of out-of-wedlockchildbearing10, differences in themarriage market, marital fertility,child custody, and other family for-mation behaviors may all be factorscontributing to higher rates of chil-dren living in blended families.

By far, the largest source of blendingin children’s families was the pres-ence of half-siblings. In 1996,7.8 million children lived with atleast one half-sibling (see Table 4);11 percent of all children and66 percent of children in blendedfamilies lived with half-siblings. Inaddition, 79 percent of Blackchildren and 76 percent of Hispanicchildren in blended families livedwith half-siblings, compared with61 percent of White non-Hispanicchildren.

Living with a stepparent is the nextlargest contributor to children livingin a blended family — 7 percent ofall children, and 42 percent of chil-dren in blended families, lived with astepparent. Stepparents were morecommonly found living with Whitenon-Hispanic children in blendedfamilies (47 percent) than with Blackchildren (27 percent) or Hispanicchildren (36 percent).

10See the National Vital Statistics Reports fordata on births and trends in childbearingamong unmarried women, teenagers and thegeneral population. For example see StephanieVentura, et. al., Births: Final Data for 1997, Na-tional Vital Statistics Reports: Vol. 47, No. 18,Hyattsville, MD, National Center for Health Sta-tistics. 1999.

Figure 3.

Children Living With a Cohabiting Parent: Fall 1996


(In percent) All childrenChildren in unmarried parent households

1721 20

9

26

14

23

5 4 4 5

10

2

7

Hispanic1Asianand Pacific

Islander

AmericanIndian

and AlaskaNative


WhiteAll Races


ADOPTED CHILDREN

The number of adopted children rosefrom 1.1 million in 1991 to 1.5 mil-lion in 1996. It is difficult to accu-rately estimate the number ofadopted children, as some parentsmay desire to keep this informationconfidential.11 SIPP estimates rely onthe relationships reported by the re-spondent — administrative recordsare not used. This collection methodcould lead to missed actual

11Data from the National Survey of FamilyGrowth provide estimates of adoption duringthe 1980’s and 1990’s, and indicate that report-ing of adoptive status is reasonably accurate inthe SIPP. Anjani Chandra, et. al., Advance Data:Adoption, Adoption Seeking, and Relinquish-ment for Adoption in the United States. Ad-vance Data from the Vital and Health Statistics:No. 306. Hyattsville, MD: National Center forHealth Statistics. 1999., and ChristineBachrach, et. al., Adoption in the 1980’s. Ad-vance Data from the Vital and Health Statistics:No. 181. Hyattsville, MD: National Center forHealth Statistics. 1990.

Table 4.Children Living in Blended Families by Composition of Family and Race and Ethnicity:Fall 1996(Numbers in thousands)

Characteristics

All races White

Whitenon-

Hispanic Black

AmericanIndian and

AlaskaNative

Asian andPacific

Islander Hispanic1

Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Children living in a blended family . . . . . . . .

Percent of all children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Type of blended family—Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Stepparent only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Stepsibling only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Half-sibling only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Stepparent and stepsibling . . . . . . . . . . . . .Stepparent and half-sibling . . . . . . . . . . . . .Stepsibling and half-sibling . . . . . . . . . . . . .Stepparent, stepsibling and half-sibling . .

Percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Stepparent only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Stepsibling only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Half-sibling only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Stepparent and stepsibling . . . . . . . . . . . . .Stepparent and half-sibling . . . . . . . . . . . . .Stepsibling and half-sibling . . . . . . . . . . . . .Stepparent, stepsibling and half-sibling . .

71,49411,798

16.5

2,3111,0405,708

6841,662

148246

100.019.68.8

48.45.8

14.11.32.1

56,2128,929

15.9

1,948736

4,025596

1,329102193

100.021.88.2

45.16.7

14.91.12.2

46,6577,521

16.1

1,714661

3,205556

1,11699

171

100.022.88.8

42.67.4

14.81.32.3

11,6312,375

20.4

275159

1,52664

2644246

100.011.66.7

64.32.7

11.11.81.9

1,073221

20.6

51408311334-

100.023.118.137.65.0

14.91.8

-

2,578272

10.6

37105

751236

-7

100.013.638.627.64.4

13.2-

2.6

10,4281,575

15.1

25378

93245

2433

22

100.016.1

5.059.22.9

15.40.21.4


1People of Hispanic origin may be of any race.



15 14 1417

12 11

1718 17 17

2926

1115

17 16 1620 21

1115

Hispanic1Asianand Pacific

Islander

AmericanIndian

and AlaskaNative


WhiteAll Races

Figure 4.

Children Living in Blended Families: Fall 1996 (In percent)

All children Two parent One parent

9U.S. Census Bureau

adoptions, confusion between step-and adopted parents when a step-parent adopts their stepchild, andthe inclusion of informal adoptions,where no legal adoption actually ex-ists.

Because of the small number ofadopted children and the difficultiesin accurately measuring them in theSIPP, only very basic information ispresented in Table 5. White non-Hispanic children represent themajority of adopted children — theyare also represented in a slightlylarger proportion among adoptedchildren than among all children.Black and Hispanic children areunderrepresented in the populationof adopted children relative to theirdistribution in the total population.

Only 16 percent of adopted chil-dren lived with a single parentcompared with 25 percent of allchildren. In 1996, 84 percent ofadopted children lived with twoparents — 47 percent lived withtwo adoptive parents and 35 per-cent lived with one adoptive parentand a biological parent. Adoptions

by stepparents are most likely themajority of the adoptions in thislast group and are an importantand distinct component of the totalpicture of adoptions.

CHILDREN WITH SIBLINGS

Most children (79 percent) lived inhouseholds with at least one sibling(see Table 6): 11 percent lived with ahalf-sibling and 3 percent with astepsibling. Black children weremost likely to live with no siblings inthe household (25 percent),12 butwere also most likely to live with atleast one half-sibling (16 percent).Asian and Pacific Islander childrenwere the least likely to live with ahalf-sibling (5 percent).

In 1996, 27.7 million children (39percent) lived with one sibling; anadditional 24.3 million lived withtwo or three siblings (34 percent).These figures reflect the relatively

12The identification of siblings, in part, de-pends on the presence of parents. When twosiblings are living in the same household withno parents present, they may fail to be identi-fied as siblings or in the correct category ofsiblings.

Table 5.Adopted Children by Raceand Ethnicity and LivingArrangements: Fall 1996(Numbers in thousands)

Characteristics Num-ber Percent

Adopted children . . . . . . .

Race and Ethnicity

1,484 100.0

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,143 77.0Non-Hispanic . . . . . . 1,027 69.2

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .American Indian and

192 12.9

Alaska Native . . . . . .Asian and Pacific

47 3.2

Islander . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 6.9Hispanic1 . . . . . . . . . . .

Living arrangements

119 8.0

Two parents . . . . . . . . .Two adoptive

1,250 84.2

parents . . . . . . . . . .One adoptive and

702 47.3

one biological . . . .One adoptive and

515 34.7

one step . . . . . . . . . 33 2.2

One parent . . . . . . . . . . 234 15.8Mother only . . . . . . . 182 12.3Father only . . . . . . . . 52 3.5

1People of Hispanic origin may be ofany race.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey ofIncome and Program Participation, 1996Wave 2.

Table 6.Children by Presence of Siblings by Type of Relationship and Race and Ethnicity: Fall1996(In thousands)

Presence of siblings

All races White

Whitenon-

Hispanic Black

AmericanIndian and

AlaskaNative

Asian andPacific

Islander Hispanic1

Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71,494 56,212 46,657 11,631 1,073 2,578 10,428

Living with at least one sibling . . . . . . . 56,187 44,549 36,664 8,702 873 2,064 8,634Living with only full-siblings . . . . . . . . 46,700 37,568 30,857 6,601 703 1,829 7,312Living with at least one stepsibling . . 2,117 1,628 1,486 310 55 124 147Living with at least one half-sibling .

Living with:

7,764 5,648 4,590 1,878 119 118 1,200

No siblings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,307 11,663 9,993 2,929 200 515 1,7941 sibling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27,678 22,641 19,723 3,718 282 1,037 3,1852 siblings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,142 13,681 11,136 2,625 296 540 2,7763 siblings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,145 5,330 3,914 1,365 184 266 1,5114 or more siblings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,224 2,898 1,891 994 111 221 1,162




higher levels of fertility in theUnited States compared with otherindustrialized countries, and thepatterns of immigration andfertility among subgroups of thepopulation.13 Hispanic children andAmerican Indian and Alaska Nativechildren live with two or moresiblings 52 percent and 55 percentof the time respectively, propor-tions much higher than for anyother race/ethnic groups. Forty-three percent of Black children and40 percent of Asian and Pacific Is-lander children lived with two ormore siblings, while only 24 per-cent of White non-Hispanic childrenlived with this many siblings.

THE EXTENDED FAMILYHOUSEHOLD

Extended family households arehouseholds where a child lives with atleast one parent and someone outsideof the nuclear family, either relativesor nonrelatives. Examples of theseother people include stepparents,non-biological siblings, grandparents,other relatives and nonrelatives. Manyinterrelated economic, cultural, andstructural factors are involved in thecreation of extended households.Affordability and availability of hous-ing and employment force some fami-lies to double-up to save on housingcosts. In addition fundamental cul-tural differences in family formationand household building behavior maybe factors.14 On entering the UnitedStates, immigrants often live withsponsoring relatives and friends untilthey are able to support their ownhousehold; thus, extended familiesmay be more prevalent among Asian

13Amara Bachu, Fertility of AmericanWomen: June 1995 (Update), Current Popula-tion Reports, P20-499, Washington, DC, U.S.Census Bureau, 1997. See Table 4.

14Steven Ruggles, “The Origins of African-American Family Structure,” American Socio-logical Review, Vol 59 (February 1994). Pages136-151.

and Pacific Islander children and His-panic children who compose themajority of new immigrants to theUnited States.

Structural differences, such as thelikelihood of living in a single-parent household, also play signifi-cant roles in forming extended andnonparental household situations.Children born in single-parenthouseholds are more likely to expe-rience spells of living with otherrelatives than are children born intwo-parent households as the ab-sence of parents may require addi-tional economic and child supportassistance.15

In 1996, 10.3 million children(14 percent of all children) lived inextended family households, upfrom 8.0 million in 1991 (see Table7). As in 1991, White children in1996 were least likely to live in ex-tended family households com-pared with children of any otherrace. In 1996, about 12 percentwere living in extended householdscompared with levels of 22 percentto 24 percent for children of otherraces or Hispanic origin.

The majority of extended house-holds are formed by the presenceof an additional relative (see Figure5). Of the 10.3 million childrenliving in extended families, 7.2 mil-lion (70 percent) had only otherrelatives as extended householdmembers. Of children living in ex-tended families, Asian and PacificIslander children were most likelyto live with relatives only (91 per-cent). White non-Hispanic children

15Jason M. Fields, Child Fosterage in Ameri-can Households, Johns Hopkins University,School of Hygiene and Public Health, Baltimore,MD, 1998. Structural factors, like prior livingarrangements, significantly effect the likeli-hood of a child living without their parents.Children born in single-parent households aremore likely to experience spells of living withother kin instead of their parents compared tochildren born in two-parent households.

were more likely to live in extendedfamily households with onlynonrelatives (37 percent) than werechildren of other races.

Sharing resources and providingsupport are two of the reasons thatan extended family householdmight be formed. Partly for thosereasons, children in single-parenthouseholds are more likely to alsobe in extended households. Chil-dren living with only one parent in1996 were nearly 4 times as likelyto be living in an extended house-hold than were children in two-par-ent families (33 percent versus9 percent). Among children livingin one-parent households, higherproportions of children (regardlessof race or ethnic group) lived in ex-tended households than amongkids in two-parent households.White non-Hispanic children in two-parent households were the leastlikely to have been living in anextended family household (6 per-cent).

In households extended by the ad-dition of nonrelatives only, or bynonrelatives and relatives, childrenwere more likely to live with oneparent than two compared withhouseholds extended by relativesonly, where children were as likelyto live with one parent as with twoparents. For White non-Hispanicchildren in single-parent house-holds, relatives were as likely asnonrelatives (15 percent each) tobe included in the household. Forthe other race groups in compa-rable households, relatives weremuch more likely to be included inthe households than nonrelativeswere. This suggests that supportsystems for single-parent Whitenon-Hispanic families depend lesson the immediate presence ofrelatives in the household than dofamilies of other races andethnicities.

11U.S. Census Bureau

Relatives in Extended Families person living with a grandmother, sponses that lacked enough speci-an uncle and an aunt is counted ficity to be classified into more dis-Simply providing estimates of theseparately in each of those catego- tinct categories. As in 1991,number of children living with orries). The most commonly men- uncles and aunts are represented inwithout relatives in extendedtioned relative was grandparent(s) similar proportionshouseholds masks the diversity— about 4.1 million children were (23 percent and 25 percent respec-present in these households. Tableliving with one or both tively), as are nieces and nephews8 presents data on the differentgrandparent(s) in addition to one (7 percent each).types of relatives living with chil-or both of their own parents.dren (these counts are independentOther relatives was the next largest Differences in the types of relatives

and not mutually exclusive withcategory; this includes more dis- living with children are obviously

the exception of the three grand-tant relatives, cousins, and re- related to the size of the house-

parent subcategories — i.e., a

Table 7.Children Living in Extended Households by Relationship of Household Members to Childand Race and Ethnicity: Fall 1996(In thousands)

Living arrangements Total

Presence of parents

Two parents One parent

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

All races . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71,494 100.0 50,685 100.0 18,165 100.0Living in an extended household . . . . . . . 10,292 14.4 4,347 8.6 5,945 32.7

Relatives only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,232 10.1 3,512 6.9 3,720 20.5Nonrelatives only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,618 3.7 719 1.4 1,898 10.4Relatives and nonrelatives . . . . . . . . . . . 442 0.6 116 0.2 327 1.8

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56,212 100.0 43,466 100.0 11,131 100.0Living in an extended household . . . . . . . 6,764 12.0 3,211 7.4 3,553 31.9


Non-Hispanic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46,657 100.0 36,837 100.0 8,632 100.0Living in an extended household . . . . . . . 4,700 10.1 2,051 5.6 2,649 30.7


Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,631 100.0 4,397 100.0 6,320 100.0Living in an extended household . . . . . . . 2,659 22.9 579 13.2 2,080 32.9

Relatives only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,090 18.0 483 11.0 1,607 25.4Nonrelatives only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469 4.0 95 2.2 375 5.9Relatives and nonrelatives . . . . . . . . . . . 99 0.9 2 - 98 1.6

American Indian and Alaska Native . . . . . . . . . 1,073 100.0 667 100.0 345 100.0Living in an extended household . . . . . . . 255 23.8 113 16.9 141 40.9

Relatives only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190 17.7 92 13.8 97 28.1Nonrelatives only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 5.4 21 3.1 37 10.7Relatives and nonrelatives . . . . . . . . . . . 7 0.7 - - 7 2.0

Asian and Pacific Islander . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,578 100.0 2,156 100.0 369 100.0Living in an extended household . . . . . . . 615 23.9 444 20.6 171 46.3

Relatives only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 562 21.8 428 19.9 134 36.3Nonrelatives only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 1.7 13 0.6 33 8.9Relatives and nonrelatives . . . . . . . . . . . 7 0.3 3 0.1 4 1.1

Hispanic (of any race) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,428 100.0 7,112 100.0 2,870 100.0Living in an extended household . . . . . . . 2,284 21.9 1,247 17.5 1,037 36.1

Relatives only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,790 17.2 1,080 15.2 709 24.7Nonrelatives only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355 3.4 131 1.8 224 7.8Relatives and nonrelatives . . . . . . . . . . . 139 1.3 36 0.5 103 3.6




hold: children in larger households Multigenerational Householdsand Children Withhave a higher likelihood of livingGrandparentswith different types of relatives. Of

children living in extended families In 1996, 4.2 million children lived inwith relatives, 63 percent lived multigenerational households (seewith only a single type of relative Table 9). Nearly all of them, 4.1 mil-(see Table 8). Seventy-two percent lion children, lived in householdsof White non-Hispanic children with a parent and grandparent. Virtu-lived with only a single type com- ally all the remaining children in mul-pared with 53 percent of Black chil- tigenerational households lived withdren. At the opposite end of the their parent and own child (94,000).scale, Hispanic children in thesehouseholds were more likely to live In addition to the 4.1 million children

with three or more types of noted above, there were an addi-

extended family relatives (21 per- tional 1.3 million children living with

cent), compared with Asian and Pa- a grandparent, without a parent

cific Islander children and White present, yielding a total of 5.4 mil-

non-Hispanic children (13 percent lion children living with at least one

and 8 percent respectively), but grandparent (see Table 10). When

were not significantly different children live in households with

from Black children (18 percent). grandparents — who themselves areoften dependent on the householder

(the child’s parent) — family budgetsmay be strained, and children mayhave to share their parents’ time andresources with their grandparents,especially in situations where theirgrandparents may require additionalcare. Children and grandparents arealso likely to benefit from this situa-tion in many ways. The growingnumber of children in this situationhas prompted recent studies on thewell-being and characteristics ofthese children and their families.Children living in grandparent-maintained households were morelikely to be in poverty, withouthealth insurance, and receiving pub-lic assistance.16 As in 1991, the most

16Kenneth Bryson and Lynne M. Casper,Coresident Grandparents and Grandchildren.Current Population Reports, P23-198, Washing-ton, DC, U.S. Census Bureau, 1999.

Table 8.Children Living in Extended Family Households With Relatives by Type of RelativePresent and Race and Ethnicity: Fall 1996(In thousands)

Living arrangementsAll races White

Whitenon-Hispanic Black

Asian andPacific

Islander Hispanic1

Children in extended families2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Number of different types of relatives:

1 type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 or more types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Living with at least one — . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Grandparents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Grandmother and grandfather . . . . . . . . . .Grandmother only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Grandfather only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Uncle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Aunt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Nephew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Niece . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Brother-in-law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sister-in-law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Other extended relative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

7,674

4,8511,787

860176

4,1071,5572,165

3851,7991,923

518543

4790

2,696

4,719

3,184980448107

2,5061,0331,182

2911,0781,133

243206

3580

1,650

2,954

2,122607192

32

1,773762802209494557122106

1427

947

2,189

1,161638338

53

1,19233479957

559609246322

-10

724

569

3791155917

33115314434

120159

812

--

222

1,929

1,117412318

82

77427840888

661677137109

2157

799


1People of Hispanic origin may be of any race.2Individual categories add to more than the total because childr

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program P

en may live

articipation,

with more than one type of relative.

1996 Wave 2.


common living arrangement was when a single parent and childwhen the child was living with a moved into the grandparent’s homegrandparent and a single mother — and were dependent on the grand-2.3 million children, or 43 percent of parent for providing housing andchildren with grandparents in 1996. other support.In the vast majority of these in-stances, the grandparent was the An additional 1.6 million children, or

householder (1.9 million children), 30 percent of children who lived

probably representing the situation with a grandparent, also lived with

both parents. The grandparent wasthe householder in less than half thecases. Most likely, when a childlived with both parents and agrandparent, the grandparent movedinto their child’s household and wasdependent on their grandchild’s par-ents for assistance.

Overall, only 5 percent of White non-Hispanic children lived with one ormore grandparents compared withabout 15 percent of Black and Asianand Pacific Islander children. Thedifferent scenarios of the type ofgrandparent-grandchild householdchildren live in illustrate the differentdynamics of extended householdformation for different racial and eth-nic groups in the United States.More than one-half of Black childrenwho lived with grandparents lived inhouseholds with single mothers andgrandparents, a proportion greaterthan any of the other groups shownin Figure 6. Another one-third ofBlack children who lived with grand-parents had neither parent livingwith them. These children lived withtheir grandparents under conditionscharacterized by a significant degreeof out-of-wedlock births, marital dis-ruption, or the absence of both par-ents from their daily living arrange-ments.

Figure 5.

Children Living in Extended Family Households by Presence of Other Relatives and Nonrelatives: Fall 1996



Relatives and nonrelatives

4 5 4 41

6

2530

37

18

7

16

70 6559

7991

78

Hispanic1Asianand

PacificIslander


WhiteAll races

Relatives only

Nonrelatives only

Table 9.Children Living in Multigenerational Households by Race and Ethnicity: Fall 1996(Numbers in thousands)



Asian andPacific

Islander Hispanic1

Children living in multigenerationalhouseholds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Percent of all children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .With parent and grandparent . . . . . . . . . . . . .With parent and own child . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4,2015.9

4,103944

2,5544.5

2,502494

1,7973.9

1,769234

1,23310.6

1,19241

-

33413.0331

4-

8027.7

77428

-





In contrast, the majority (72 percent)of Asian and Pacific Islander childrenwho lived with grandparents alsolived with both their parents. An-other 21 percent of these childrenlived with their mother and only7 percent lived with grandparentswith no parent present. In the vastmajority of cases where these chil-dren lived with both parents and agrandparent, the grandparent wasprobably dependent on the parentsfor assistance. Only 10 percent ofAsian and Pacific Islander children inmultigenerational households withtwo parents present were living inhouseholds where the grandparentwas the householder (see Table 10).

Both White non-Hispanic childrenand Hispanic children were about aslikely to live with both parents and agrandparent as they were to livewith only their mother and a grand-parent (about 37 percent each). Forboth groups the grandparent wasthe householder about 48 percent of

the time when children lived withtwo parents. These statistics sug-gest that while many children livewith grandparents, the role of thegrandparent as either the principalhousehold provider or as a depen-dent elderly relative is likely to bevery different among children in dif-ferent race groups.

HISTORICAL TRENDS

Today’s family and household struc-tures are not unique and may be putin a useful context by comparingthem with family and householdstructures since the late 19th century.Based on decennial census data fromthe Integrated Public Use MicrodataSeries,17 the Current Population Sur-vey, and the 1996 SIPP, Figure 7 pre-sents parent-child living arrange-ments for the period from 1880

17Steven Ruggles and Matthew Sobek et. al.Integrated Public Use Microdata Series: Version2.0, Minneapolis: Historical Census Projects,University of Minnesota, 1997.www.ipums.umn.edu

through 1996 (See also InternetTable 2 for additional years of datanot included in Figure 7).

While family and household structurehas experienced some sizablechanges, it also shows some remark-able stability. From 1880 to 1970,the distribution of children’s living ar-rangements changed very little. Theproportion of children who livedwithout parents declined from 6 per-cent in 1880 to about 3 percent in1970. During this same period, theproportion of children who lived withtheir mothers only increased from8 percent to just 11 percent.

More dramatic shifts in living ar-rangements have occurred since1970. Children began living withonly their mothers at a much higherrate — between 1970 and 1990 theproportion of these children livingwith only their mother doubled(11 percent to 22 percent). Since1990, the changes in children’s living

Table 10.Children Living With Grandparents by Race and Ethnicity: Fall 1996(Numbers in thousands)



Asian andPacific

Islander Hispanic1

Children living with at least one grandparent .Percent of all children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Presence of parentsTwo parents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Grandparent is the householder . . . . . . . .Mother only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Grandparent is the householder . . . . . . . .Father only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Grandparent is the householder . . . . . . . .Neither parent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Grandparent is the householder . . . . . . . .

Percent of children living with grandparentsand —Two parents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Mother only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Father only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Neither parent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

5,3737.5

1,591679

2,3061,893

210175

1,2661,235

29.642.93.9

23.6

3,1435.6

1,149541

1,1711,003

185150637627

36.637.35.9

20.3

2,2744.9

799380844746130118501495

35.137.15.7

22.0

1,76315.2

16898

1,0017872323

571559

9.556.81.3

32.4

35413.7

256257549

--

2415

72.321.2

-6.8

9188.8

3561673642745533

143139

38.839.76.0

15.6


1 People of Hispanic origin may be of any race.



arrangements have leveled off.Changes in the proportion of chil-dren living with only with their fa-thers increased from 1970 and1990, but to levels that are not his-torically different from those re-corded 100 years ago.

Earlier in the century, migration andmortality led to more children beingraised by a single parent, while laterin the century, divorce and out-of-wedlock births have led to the sameend. The middle of the 20th centuryis a unique period in the demo-graphic history of the U.S. popula-tion. This period is marked by in-creased fertility that led to the BabyBoom, and by high proportions ofchildren living with both parents.

The diversity of children’s living ar-rangements continues to be an im-portant avenue for research.Whether the changes that occurredthrough the middle of the centurywill reverse, continue their previoustrend, or whether they have reacheda new equilibrium for the foresee-able future remains to be seen.

SOURCE OF DATA

The estimates in this report comefrom the Survey of Income and Pro-gram Participation (SIPP), and arebased on data collected from Augustthrough November of 1996 by theU.S. Census Bureau. The SIPP is alongitudinal survey conducted at 4-month intervals. Although the mainfocus of the SIPP is information onlabor force participation, jobs, in-come, and participation in federalassistance programs, information onother topics is also collected in topi-cal modules on a rotating basis. Thedata highlighted in this report comeprimarily from the core and thehousehold relationship topical mod-ules in the second interview (wave)of the 1996 SIPP panel.

Figure 6.

Children Living With Grandparents by Presence of Parents and Race and Ethnicity: Fall 1996

1People of Hispanic origin may be of any race.Note: - Represents zero or rounds to zero.Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation, 1996 Wave 2.


Neither parent

Father only

Mother only

Two parents

(-)

Hispanic1Asianand

PacificIslander

AmericanIndianand

AlaskaNative


WhiteAll races

24

4

43

30

20

6

37

37

22

6

37

37

32

1

57

10

30

2

51

17

7

21

72

16

6

40

39

Figure 7.

Historical Living Arrangements of Children: Selected Years, 1880 to 1996

1Data from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series: Version 2.0 made available by the Historical Census Projects.2U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey.3U.S. Census Bureau, 1996 Survey of Income and Program Participation, Wave 2.


Neither parent

Father only

Mother only

Two parents

6 5 53 3

43 3 3 1 3 3

8 7 8 11

22 23

83 85 85 8573 71

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16 U.S. Census BureauFIRST-CLASS MAILPOSTAGE & FEES PAIDU.S. Census Bureau

Permit No. G-58

U.S. Department of CommerceEconomics and Statistics AdministrationU.S. CENSUS BUREAUWashington, DC 20233

OFFICIAL BUSINESS

Penalty for Private Use $300

ACCURACY OF THE is not precisely known. Moreover, SUGGESTED CITATIONESTIMATES biases may also be present when Fields, Jason. 2001. Living Arrange-

people who are missed in the surveyStatistics from surveys are subject to ments of Children: Fall 1996, Currentdiffer from those interviewed insampling and nonsampling error. All Population Reports, P70-74, U.S.ways other than the categories usedcomparisons presented in this report Census Bureau, Washington, DC.in weighting (age, race, sex, and His-have taken sampling error into ac-panic origin). All of these consider-count and meet the U.S. Census CONTACTSations affect comparisons across dif-Bureau’s standards for statistical sig-ferent surveys or data sources. For additional living arrangements ornificance. Nonsampling errors inEstimates for small subpopulations children’s family information, yousurveys may be attributed to a vari-(less than 200,000 estimated per- may contact the author of this reportety of sources, such as how the sur-sons) should be interpreted with par- in Fertility and Family Statisticsvey was designed, how respondentsticular caution. Branch, on 301-457-2465. You mayinterpret questions, how able and

also contact the author of this reportwilling respondents are to provideFor further information on statistical by e-mail.correct answers, and how accuratelystandards and the computation and

answers are coded and classified.use of standard errors, contact John Jason Fields —

The Census Bureau employs qualityBoise, Demographic Statistical Meth- [email protected]

control procedures throughout theods Division, at 301-457-4221 or on

production process—including thethe Internet at USER COMMENTSoverall design of surveys, the [email protected].

ing of questions, review of the work The Census Bureau welcomes theof interviewers and coders, and sta- comments and advice of users of its

MORE INFORMATIONtistical review of reports. data and reports. If you have anyA copy of this report is available suggestions or comments, please

The SIPP employs ratio estimation, from the Population Division’s Statis- write to:whereby sample estimates are ad- tical information Office, 301-457-justed to independent estimates of Chief, Population Division2422. The report, as well as two de-the national population by age, race, U.S. Census Bureautailed tables, is also available on thesex, and Hispanic origin. This Washington, DC 20233Internet (www.census.gov); searchweighting partially corrects for bias for children’s data by clicking on thedue to undercoverage, but how it af- or send an e-mail inquiry to:

“Subjects A-Z” button and selectingfects different variables in the survey [email protected]

“children” under “C.”

living arrangements of children: 1996 - census.gov51 percent in 1991 to over 56 per-cent by 1996....

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