Household and Family Structure

U.S. fathers today are spending more time caring for their children than they did a half-century ago. Moms, by comparison, still do more of the child care and are more likely than dads to say they are satisfied with the amount of time they spend with their kids.

Americans adopted around 5,370 children from other countries in fiscal year 2016. For the first time, males outnumbered females among adoptees from abroad.

Women's contributions to U.S. household incomes have grown. Yet, men contribute more of the income in most couples, and this reality aligns with public sentiments.

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.

Millennials trail Baby Boomers and Generation Xers in the number of households they head. But Millennial-run households represent the largest group in some key categories, such as the number in poverty or the number headed by a single mother.

The number of U.S. households renting their home increased significantly between 2006 and 2016, as did the share.

Among gun-owning parents with children in their household, 54% say all guns in their home are kept in a locked place and 53% say they are all kept unloaded.

About four-in-ten Americans say they either own a gun themselves or live in a household with guns, and 48% say they grew up in a household with guns.

A half-century after the Supreme Court legalized interracial marriage in the United States, 18% of all cohabiting adults have a partner of a different race or ethnicity – similar to the share of U.S. newlyweds who have a spouse of a different race or ethnicity (17%).

The growing prevalence of cellphones comes as the typical American household now contains a wide range of connected devices.