The American family has experienced considerable evolution over the past few decades. Statistics bear out the degree of change.

Marriage and Family

  The average number of persons per U.S. household, among whites and African Americans, has declined over the past three decades from 3.1 in 1970 to 2.6 in 1998 (the latest U.S. Census Bureau figures available). The average number in Hispanic-American households increased from three in 1975 to 3.5 in 1998. Among Asian Americans, the figure has remained steady at 3.2 since 1990 (earlier data are not available).

  Fifty-three percent of the households in the United States were headed by married couples in 1998. This compares with 78.2 percent in 1950 and 61 percent in 1980.

  Fifty-seven percent of U.S. households in 1998 consisted of one or two people. Another 17 percent included a third person, and 15.6 percent were four-person households.

  From 1975 to 1999, according to the Population Reference Bureau, the percentage of adults in the U.S. population who have never been married has increased from 22 to 28 percent.

  In 1999, there were 70.2 million children under 18 in the United States, an increase from less than 50 million in 1950. It is projected that the number will rise by another seven million by 2020. Yet children under 18 made up 26 percent of the population in 1999, down from 36 percent in 1960.

  There has been an increase in the number of adults ages 65 and older in the total population from eight percent in 1950 to 13 percent in 1999. That figure is expected to increase to 17 percent by 2020.

  The percentage of white non-Hispanic children under 18 in the United States has decreased from 74 percent in 1980 to 65 percent in 1999. The number of Hispanics in the child population has risen from nine percent in 1980 to 16 percent in 1999. That figure is projected to reach 20 percent by 2020. The percentage of blacks in the child population has remained stable, at around 18 percent, during the past two decades.

  Of families with children under the age of 18, 73 percent were headed by married couples in 1998. This contrasts with 92.6 percent of similarly-structured families in 1950, and 80.5 percent in 1980. In 1998, 22 percent of families with children below 18 were mother-only households, with single-father households comprising the remaining five percent.



  Among children living with two parents, according to 1996 Census Bureau figures, 91 percent lived with both biological or adoptive parents. Nine percent lived with a biological or adoptive parent and a step-parent. About 80 percent of children living with a step-parent lived with their mother and a stepfather.

  In 1998, of children in single-parent homes, nearly 16 percent lived with their fathers. This represents an increase from 8.5 percent in 1980.

  With respect to children under 18 in the United States, 68 percent were being raised by two parents in 1998. Another 23.3 percent were being raised solely by their biological mothers, and 4.4 percent solely by their biological fathers. Slightly more than four percent were being raised by other relatives or non-relatives.

  In 1970, 3.2 percent of U.S. children lived in a household maintained by a grandparent. By 1997, the figure rose to 5.5 percent -- an increase of 76 percent over slightly more than a quarter-century. Within the 1990s alone -- from 1990 to 1997 -- the number of grandparent-maintained households rose 19 percent.

Families, Work and Child Care

  In 1998, of married couples in the U.S. labor force, 56.3 percent represented dual-earning couples. In 21.3 percent of the cases, only the husband was working, and in 5.7 percent, only the wife was employed. The remaining percentage represented non-working couples.

  Of married working couples with children under age 18, the percentage of dual-earning couples rose from 59.3 in 1986 to 68 in 1998. The percentage of families in which only the husband was employed declined from 36.2 in 1986 to 27.1 a dozen years later.

  The percentage of working mothers with infants has risen dramatically. Of the 3.7 million women in 1998 who had children younger than one year old, 59 percent were working outside the home. The 1996 figure was 31 percent.

  According to a Bureau of Labor Statistics tabulation, the number of "at-home" fathers ages 25 to 54 who chose not to look for work, because of home responsibilities, rose from 4.6 percent in 1991 to 8.4 percent in 1996.