Family Units Changing

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Census Report Reveals Startling Trend

Special Report - August 17, 2005
Households consisting of married parents with natural or adopted children are no longer the most common type of family unit in the United States, according to a report released on August 16 by the U.S. Census Bureau. Entitled “Examining American Household Composition: 1990 and 2000,” the report tracks the changes in the structure of American households over a ten year period by comparing data from the 1990 and 2000 population censuses. Among the report’s results is the startling fact that two-parent homes with children have been overcome by single-adult homes as the most common household type. Between 1990 and 2000 homes with a single adult living alone rose to more than 27 million or 26 percent of all households, while the number of two-parent homes with children dropped to 24.5 million or 23 percent of all households. Married couples with no children in the home were the third most common making up 22.3 million or 21 percent of households. Amazingly, the U.S. Census Bureau is tracking more than 786,000 possible combinations of household relationships in the United States—evidence of the ever-growing complexity of living and family relationships in American homes.