The Modern American Family
Key trends in marriage and family life in the United States.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Key trends in marriage and family life in the United States.
Americans are more pessimistic than optimistic about the institution of marriage and the family. At the same time, the public is fairly accepting of diverse family arrangements, though some are seen as more acceptable than others.
Among married couples in the United States, women’s financial contributions have grown steadily over the last half century. Even when earnings are similar, husbands spend more time on paid work and leisure, while wives devote more time to caregiving and housework.
Most U.S. young adults are at least mostly financially independent and happy with their parents’ involvement in their lives. Parent-child relationships are mostly strong.
On key economic outcomes, single adults at prime working age increasingly lag behind those who are married or cohabiting
Three-in-ten Millennials live with a spouse and child, compared with 40% of Gen Xers at a comparable age.
Financial independence is one of the many markers used to designate the crossover from childhood into young adulthood, and it’s a milestone most Americans (64%) think young adults should reach by the time they are 22 years old, according to a new Pew Research Center study. But that’s not the reality for most young adults who’ve reached this age.
Despite widening gaps in politics and demographics, Americans across community types have a lot in common in key facets of their lives.
Half of U.S. adults today are married, a share that has remained relatively stable in recent years but dramatically different from the peak of 72% in 1960.
Today’s working fathers are just as likely as working mothers to say that finding the right balance between their job and their family life is a challenge.
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