The Family - Mom, Dad, And Two Children — Does The Pattern Still Hold?

Since the 1970s, more and more children are being raised in single-parent homes. Nonetheless, as the graphic shows, most children are being raised in two-parent families — at least for a part of their childhood. The graphic is a snapshot of the year 2000 and does not attempt to illustrate a trend.

The top line shows the number of children, by size of family, in two-parent households. Despite the impression that the "typical" family of four is no longer with us, data suggest that it's a standard that has yet to be displaced. The greatest number of children in any of the eight family arrangements listed above is in a "traditional" family of four. In the year 2000, 31% of children were living with two parents and a sibling; 72% were living with two parents.

This having been said, it is true that as we enter the 21st century, many more children in the United States are being raised by a single parent than ever before. This is of the greatest importance — at least for the well-being of the children. Two parents have more money than one — and other resources as well. In turn, family resources have a direct bearing on the children's prospects.

Single-parent homes run by women are far more likely to live below the poverty line than any two-parent households (women typically earn less than men). In 2000, 32% of single-mother households lived below the poverty line. While this is a high number, it represents a 12% improvement over the situation that existed just ten years before. The corresponding figures for married-couple families with children were 7.8% living below poverty in 1990 and 6% in 2000.

Although the decline in poverty rate for single-parent, female-headed households with children has been greater than that experienced by married couples raising children, as can be seen in the graphic, the poverty rate itself remains much higher. Two parents, even if both work, are better able to provide financially — and some would argue emotionally — for children. If both work, they are more likely to be able to afford daycare. If one stays at home — that is daycare.

More than 55% of all children living below the poverty line were in households headed by a single mom. Single-parent households accounted for 28% of all children. A child, therefore, is four times more likely to live below the poverty line if he or she lives with mother only.

This fact is part of the motivation behind the George W. Bush Administration's marriage initiative — a sort of marriage education and promotion program — a key element of any reauthorized Welfare Reform Act. The idea is clear enough. If children reared in two-parent homes have better outcomes (fewer live in poverty, fewer drop out of school) then one way to address the problem is to increase the number of children living in two-parent homes. Get young mothers and fathers to the chapel.

Many circles have cried Foul at the Bush Administration's marriage initiative. Some groups fear that it's an attack on women's independence and would force poor, young women into unwanted marriages with irresponsible or even violent men. Others argue that the real problem is early, out-of-wedlock births and that, therefore, sex education and birth control are better areas in which to invest than is the promotion of marriage.

It is not clear whether or not the marriage initiative will become a part of the next Welfare Reform Act. What is clear is the fact that the decline in the number of marriages is seen by some as a cause for problems in the social order. How much has the rate of marriage declined over the last decades? This is what we will address in the next panel.

Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census. America's Families and Living Arrangements 2000. Current Population Reports. Issued June 2001.