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FAM1.A Family structure and children's living arrangements: Percentage of children ages 0–17 by presence of married parents in household, and racea and Hispanic origin, 1980–2006
Race, a and Hispanic origin, and family structure 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001b 2002b 2003b 2004b 2005b 2006b
Total
Two married parents c 77 76 75 75 75 74 74 73 73 73 73 72 71 71 69 69 68 68 68 68 69 69 69 68 68 67 67
Mother only d 18 18 20 20 20 21 21 21 21 22 22 22 23 23 23 23 24 24 23 23 22 22 23 23 23 23 23
Father only d 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5
No parent 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5
White, non-Hispanic
Two married parents c — — — — — — — — — — 81 80 79 79 79 78 77 77 76 77 77 78 77 — — — —
Mother only d — — — — — — — — — — 15 15 16 16 16 16 16 17 16 16 16 16 16 — — — —
Father only d — — — — — — — — — — 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 5 4 4 4 4 — — — —
No parent — — — — — — — — — — 2 2 1 1 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 3 — — — —
White-alone, non-Hispanic
Two married parents c — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 77 77 76 76
Mother only d — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 16 16 16 16
Father only d — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 4 4 5 5
No parent — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 3 3 3 3
Black
Two married parents c 42 43 42 41 41 39 41 40 39 38 38 36 36 36 33 33 33 35 36 35 38 38 38 — — — —
Mother only d 44 43 47 51 50 51 51 50 51 51 51 54 54 54 53 52 53 52 51 52 49 48 48 — — — —
Father only d 2 3 2 2 3 3 2 3 3 3 4 4 3 3 4 4 4 5 4 4 4 5 5 — — — —
No parent 12 11 8 6 6 7 6 7 7 7 8 7 7 7 10 11 9 8 9 10 9 10 8 — — — —
Black-alone
Two married parents c — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 36 35 35 35
Mother only d — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 51 50 50 51
Father only d — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 5 6 5 5
No parent — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 9 9 9 9
Hispanic e
Two married parents c 75 70 69 68 70 68 66 66 66 67 67 66 65 65 63 63 62 64 64 63 65 65 65 65 65 65 66
Mother only d 20 23 25 27 25 27 28 28 27 28 27 27 28 28 28 28 29 27 27 27 25 25 25 25 25 25 25
Father only d 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 4 5 5 6 5 5 4
No parent 3 4 4 3 3 3 3 4 4 2 3 4 3 4 5 4 5 5 5 5 5 6 5 5 5 5 5
— Not available.
a For race and Hispanic-origin data in this table: From 1980 to 2002, following the 1977 OMB standards for collecting and presenting data on race, the Current Population Survey (CPS) asked respondents to choose one race from the following: White, Black, American Indian or Alaskan Native, or Asian or Pacific Islander. The Census Bureau also offered an “Other” category. Beginning in 2003, following the 1997 OMB standards for collecting and presenting data on race, the CPS asked respondents to choose one or more races from the following: White, Black, Asian, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. All race groups discussed in this table from 2003 onward refer to people who indicated only one racial identity within the racial categories presented. People who responded to the question on race by indicating only one race are referred to as the race-alone population. The use of the race-alone population in this table does not imply that it is the preferred method of presenting or analyzing data. Data from 2003 onward are not directly comparable with data from earlier years. Data on race and Hispanic origin are collected separately. Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race.
b Beginning with March 2001, data are from the expanded CPS sample and use population controls based on Census 2000.
c Excludes families where parents are not living as a married couple.
d Because of data limitations, includes some families where both parents are present in the household but living as unmarried partners.
e Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race.
NOTE: Family structure refers to the presence of biological, adoptive, and stepparents in the child’s household. Thus, a child with a biological mother and stepfather living in the household is said to have two married parents.
Two married parents family: In the CPS, children live in a two-parent family if they are living with a parent who is married with his or her spouse present. This is not an indicator of the biological relationship between the child and the parents. The parent who is identified could be a biological, step, or adoptive parent. If a second parent is present and not married to the first parent, then the child is identified as living with a single parent.

Single parent family: A “single” parent is defined as a parent who is not currently living with a spouse. Single parents may be married and not living with their spouse; they may be divorced, widowed, or never married. As with the identification of two married parents described above, if a second parent is present and not married to the first, then the child is identified as living with a single parent.
SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplements. U.S. Census Bureau, Families and Living Arrangements reports and detailed tables (from 1994) are available on the U.S. Census Bureau website at http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hh-fam.html.