Fewer than half of U.S. kids today live in a ‘traditional’ family
Just 46% of U.S. kids under 18 are living in a home with two married heterosexual parents in their first marriage, a marked change from 1960.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Just 46% of U.S. kids under 18 are living in a home with two married heterosexual parents in their first marriage, a marked change from 1960.
The U.S. Census Bureau has proposed dropping a series of questions about marriage and divorce from its largest household survey of Americans, touching off a debate about the usefulness of such data.
The new approach reflects the bureau’s evolving policy on reporting household relationships, as it tries to keep pace with social change.
In 2013, 40% of new marriages in the U.S. included at least one partner who had been married before. Almost 42 million Americans have been married more than once, up from 22 million in 1980.
The Census Bureau last week released a new estimate of the number of U.S. same-sex married couples that is 38% higher than the bureau’s 2012 estimate, but agency officials note that the estimates are likely inaccurate.
One-in-five adults ages 25 and older have never married, up from 9% in 1960. Shifting public attitudes toward marriage, hard economic times and changing demographic patterns may have all played a role.
In 1960, 37% of households included a married couple raising their own children. More than a half-century later, just 16% of households look like that.
Same-sex marriage is now legal in Washington, D.C., and 17 states (and Arkansas will join them, if a lower-court judge’s ruling last week is upheld). Now the federal government’s task is to produce an accurate count of same-sex married couples.
Relationships and technology in the modern era.
Every new year means adding thousands of new state laws to the books. This year’s wide range includes everything from tanning bed age limits (Illinois), to a new ban on selling shark fins (Delaware). While most new laws represent incremental change, sometimes state laws can also signal broader movement on a public policy issue or […]
1615 L St. NW, Suite 800
Washington, DC 20036
USA
(+1) 202-419-4300 | Main
(+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax
(+1) 202-419-4372 | Media Inquiries
ABOUT PEW RESEARCH CENTER Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts.
© 2024 Pew Research Center