In , the average new mother was 21 years old. Since that time, that age has risen to 26 years. The rise in maternal age has been driven largely by declines in teen births. While age at first birth has increased across all major race and ethnic groups, substantial variation persists across these groups. The average first-time mom among whites is now 27 years old.
The average age at first birth among blacks and Hispanics is quite a bit younger — 24 years — driven in part by the prevalence of teen pregnancy in these groups. Mothers today are also far better educated than they were in the past. This trend is driven in large part by dramatic increases in educational attainment for all women.
In addition to the changes in family structure that have occurred over the past several decades, family life has been greatly affected by the movement of more and more mothers into the workforce.
This increase in labor force participation is a continuation of a century-long trend ; rates of labor force participation among married women, particularly married white women, have been on the rise since at least the turn of the 20th century. While the labor force participation rates of mothers have more or less leveled off since about , they remain far higher than they were four decades ago. About three-fourths of all employed moms are working full time.
Among mothers with children younger than 18, blacks are the most likely to be in the labor force —about three-fourths are. The relatively high proportions of immigrants in these groups likely contribute to their lower labor force involvement — foreign-born moms are much less likely to be working than their U. The more education a mother has, the more likely she is to be in the labor force.
Along with their movement into the labor force, women, even more than men, have been attaining higher and higher levels of education. In fact, among married couples today, it is more common for the wife to have more education than the husband, a reversal of previous patterns.
These changes, along with the increasing share of single-parent families, mean that more than ever, mothers are playing the role of breadwinner —often the primary breadwinner—within their families.
The bulk of these breadwinner moms—8. Breadwinner moms are particularly common in black families, spurred by very high rates of single motherhood. Asian families are less likely to have a woman as the main breadwinner in their families, presumably due to their extremely low rates of single motherhood.
The flip side of the movement of mothers into the labor force has been a dramatic decline in the share of mothers who are now stay-at-home moms. In roughly three-in-ten of stay-at-home-mom families, either the father is not working or the mother is single or cohabiting.
As such, stay-at-home mothers are generally less well off than working mothers in terms of education and income. Except as noted, throughout this chapter a parent may be the biological or adoptive parent, or the spouse or partner of a biological or adoptive parent i. Stevenson and Wolfers maintain that divorce rates have declined since that time, while Kennedy and Ruggles find that the divorce rate has continued its rise.
See here for more on the challenges of counting same-sex couples in the U. Even smaller shares were living with no parent, or with a father only. It may be the case that some families that began as stepfamilies may no longer identify as such, if the stepparent went on to adopt the children. Remarriages involving spouses who have no children from prior relationships would not create blended families.
While it is still possible to have children beyond this point, about In , married-couple families made up 75 percent of all U. Single-parent families made up only 4 percent of all households, and other families accounted for 6 percent.
By , a significant shift in the composition of family households was underway. Married-couple families made up only 61 percent of all households, and the share with children dropped to 31 percent. The share of single-parent families nearly doubled from 4 percent to 7 percent of all households, while the share of married-couple families without children remained about the same at 30 percent.
Since , the pace of change has slowed but the transformation of family households has continued. By , married-couple families accounted for less than half of all households, and only about one-fifth 19 percent of households were married couples with children.
The share of married-couple families without children also declined slightly to 28 percent between and , but increased to 30 percent between and —almost back to the level of 31 percent. In contrast, the share of single-parent families continued to increase after , rising to 10 percent by , while the share of other families rose from 6 percent to 9 percent of all households by In , only 15 percent of all U.
Over the next 20 years, nonfamily households underwent dramatic shifts: The share of one-person households jumped to 23 percent, and the share of other nonfamily households doubled to 4 percent. The rapid growth in one-person households was largely due to increases in the share of older adults living alone, particularly women. The share of women ages 65 and older who lived alone rose from 23 percent in to 37 percent in The share of nonfamily households continued to rise after , but at a slower pace.
By , more than one-third 35 percent of all households were nonfamily households, and more than one-fourth 28 percent were one-person households.
The share of other nonfamily households also increased after , reaching 7 percent by Beginning in the s, the rise in cohabitation contributed to the growth in two-person nonfamily households; unmarried partners made up almost all of the households in this category in The share of other nonfamily households has not changed since Household composition varies among householders in different age groups and reflects the sequence of life-cycle stages that individuals experience as they age—from moving out on their own to marriage and family formation to empty nest to retirement.
Changes in the share of householders in different age groups have contributed to shifts in household composition in the United States. Most young adult householders in the United States live alone or with roommates.
Three-fifths 61 percent of households headed by an adult under age 25 were nonfamily households in , while only 39 percent were family households see Figure 1. One-third 33 percent of householders under age 25 lived with unrelated roommates—including cohabiting partners—while an additional 28 percent lived alone. Only a small share 15 percent headed married-couple families with or without children, but 14 percent of householders under age 25 headed single-parent families in Notes: Percentages may not sum to due to rounding.
Among householders ages 65 and older, 0. Sources: U. In contrast, the split between family and nonfamily households is reversed among householders ages 25 to 44—only 28 percent headed nonfamily households and 72 percent headed family households. While only one-fifth of households headed by an adult under age 25 included children, almost three-fifths 56 percent of householders ages 25 to 44 headed families with children—both married-couple families 38 percent and single-parent families 19 percent.
Only 11 percent headed married-couple families without children. More than a third of householders ages 45 to 64 37 percent were empty nesters, heading married-couple households without children. Only about one-fifth 21 percent of householders ages 45 to 64 headed families with children—16 percent were married-couple families and only 6 percent were single-parent families. However, a relatively high share of householders ages 45 to 64 were heading other family households 11 percent and one-person households 26 percent.
Eight in 10 householders ages 65 and older were either heading married-couple families without children 44 percent or living alone 42 percent. Only 10 percent of householders in this oldest age group headed other family households and only 3 percent headed other nonfamily households. Beginning in the s—and accelerating over the last two decades—changes in marriage, cohabitation, and childbearing have played a key role in transforming household composition in the United States.
These data on employment, unemployment, and family relationships are collected as part of the Current Population Survey CPS , a monthly survey of about 60, households. Data in this news release are annual averages. Families are classified either as married-couple families or as families maintained by women or men without spouses present.
Unless otherwise noted, families include those with and without children under age For further information, see the Technical Note in this news release. Families and Unemployment The number of families with at least one member unemployed increased by 4. The proportion of families with an unemployed person, at 9. In , the proportion of families with an unemployed person increased for White 9.
White families were the least likely to have an unemployed member, and Hispanic families were the most likely. In , by contrast, Asian families were the least likely to have an unemployed person, and Black families were the most likely. See table 1. In , among families with an unemployed member, The proportion of families with an unemployed member that had at least one family member working full time fell by 2. Among families with an unemployed member, Black families remained less likely to also have at least one family member who was working In , 8.
Among families with an unemployed member, those maintained by women remained less likely to also have an employed family member See tables 2 and 3. Families and Employment In , From to , the likelihood of having an employed family member decreased for White Families maintained by women remained less likely to have an employed member Among married-couple families, both spouses were employed in In , only one spouse was employed in
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