Living Arrangements of

Children: 2009 Issued June 2011

Household Economic Studies

P70-126

INTRODUCTION Children are defined in this report

This report examines the diversity of chil- as all individuals under 18 years old. ­ urrent
C
dren’s living arrangements in households The survey asks respondents to identify Population
the child’s mother and/or father if they
in the United States. The data are from the Reports
household relationship module of the are present in the household. A separate
Survey of Income and Program Partici- question asks respondents to identify the
pation (SIPP) collected in early 2009.1 This type of relationship between each child By
Rose M. Kreider
is an update of an earlier report based on and parent, whether biological, step, or and
data from the 2004 SIPP Panel.2 adoptive. All living arrangements are as Renee Ellis
of the time of the interview.
Detailed information was obtained on
Stepchildren are identified by the sur-
each person’s relationship to every other
vey respondent, and their stepparent
person in the household at the time of
may not be currently married to the
interview, permitting the identification
child’s other coresidential parent.
of various types of relatives and parent-
child and sibling relationships. This Stepsiblings share a parent, but that
report includes descriptions of extended parent is the biological parent of
family households with relatives and non- one child and the stepparent of the
relatives, whose presence may influence other child.
a child’s development and contribute to Half siblings share one biological parent.
the household’s economic well-being. It
Foster children are only identified in
also examines the degree to which chil-
the relationship to householder item
dren are living in single-parent families or
and not via the edited variables that
with stepparents, adoptive parents, or no
identify if the child’s mother/father is
parents while in the care of another rela-
present in the household and whether
tive or a guardian.
the mother/father is the child’s bio-
Various factors influence the diversity of logical, step-, or adoptive parent.
children’s living arrangements, including Grandchildren are identified either by
the respondent reporting the child as
1
The data in this report were collected from
January through April 2009 in the second wave the grandchild of the householder, or
(interview) of the 2008 SIPP Panel. The population because the child’s mother or father
represented (the population universe) is the civilian
noninstitutionalized population living in households reports that their mother or father is
with children under 18 years old in the United States. present in the household.
Detailed tables for this report can be accessed on the
U.S. Census Bureau’s Web site at <www.census.gov Blended families are formed when
/population/www/socdemo/child/la-child.html>.
The items asked in the household relationship topical remarriages occur or when children
module, which include detailed relationships of all living in a household share only one or
household members to all others, are also available on
the Census Bureau’s Web site at <www.census.gov
no biological parents. The presence of
/sipp/core_content/2008/questswave2 a stepparent, stepsibling, or half sibling
/2008w2core.pdf>.
2
Kreider, Rose M., “Living Arrangements of
designates a family as blended.
Children: 2004,” Current Population Reports, P70-114,
–Continued on page 2.
U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, DC, 2008, available
at <www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/p70-114.pdf>.

U.S. Department of Commerce

Economics and Statistics Administration
U.S. CENSUS BUREAU
 Figure 1.
Historical Living Arrangements of Children: Selected Years, 1880 to 2009

Percent
100

Two parents
90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

Mother only No parents Father only

10

0
1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2009

Source: 1880–1940: Integrated Public-Use Microdata Series: Version 2.0 1 percent microdata files made available by the Historical
Census Projects. For 1880–1940, children in group quarters are included (1 percent or less of all children). For more information,
see <http://usa.ipums.org/usa/design.shtml>; 1970–1990: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey (CPS), Annual Social and
Economic Supplement 1970, 1975, 1980, and 1990. For more information about CPS, see <http://www.census.gov/apsd/techdoc/cps
/cps-main.html>; 1996–2009: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), 1986, 1996, 2001, 2004, and
2008 Panels, Wave 2 Topical Module. For information on sampling and nonsampling error, see <www.census.gov/sipp/source.html>.

parental death, divorce, remar-

riage, births to unmarried women, Continued from page 1.
cohabitation of unmarried parents, Extended households are those that contain a child under 18 years old
and multigenerational families. who has a relative present who is not his or her parent or sibling, or
Forty percent of births today are who has a nonrelative present.
to unmarried mothers, and these
Unmarried partners are people who are at least 15 years old, who are
children may grow up in single-
not currently living with a spouse, and who are sharing a close personal
parent families or spend significant
relationship with another adult in the household. (This term and its
portions of their lives with other
definition were first developed by Arthur J. Norton of the Census Bureau
for use in the 1990 Census of Population). The partner may or may not
be the parent of any children in the household.

2 U.S. Census Bureau

relatives or stepparents.3 Immigra- 1 presents long-term trends in increased from 8 percent to 11
tion may also influence the type parent-child living arrangements.5 percent.7 Eighty-three percent of
of household and family in which children lived with two parents in
The data from 1880 to 1970 at
children grow up, when families 1880 and 85 percent lived with two
30-year intervals (the approximate
provide housing for their immigrant parents from 1910 to 1970.
length of a generation most closely
relatives and friends. Hispanics con-
conforming to census years) show Major shifts in living arrangements
stitute a large component of new
small but important changes in occurred between 1970 and 1990,
immigrants to the United States,
the distribution of children’s living when the proportion of children
and this factor is evident in these
arrangements.6 The proportion of living with their mother without
children’s living situations.4
children who lived without parents their father present doubled from
HISTORICAL LIVING declined from 6 percent in 1880 to 11 percent to 22 percent (an 11
ARRANGEMENTS OF about 3 percent in 1970. During percent increase). This period corre-
CHILDREN this same period, the proportion sponds to sharp increases in births
of children who lived with their to unmarried women, from 11
Today’s family and household struc- mother without their father present percent of all births in 1970 to 28
tures may be placed in historical percent in 1990.8 The percentage
context by comparing them with 5
Sources: 1880–1940: Integrated
of children living with two parents
Public-Use Microdata Series: Version 2.0 one
family and household structures percent microdata files made available by the declined from 85 percent in 1970
since the late nineteenth century. Historical Census Projects. For 1880–1940,
to 73 percent in 1990 (a 12 percent
children in group quarters are included
Based on decennial censuses for (1 percent or less of all children). For more decrease).9
1880, 1910, and 1940 using data information, see <http://usa.ipums.org/usa
/design.shtml>; 1970–1990: U.S. Census Since 1990, the changes in chil-
from the Integrated Public-Use
Bureau, Current Population Survey, Annual
Microdata Series, the 1970, 1980 Social and Economic Supplement 1970, 1975, dren’s living arrangements have
through 1995 Current Population 1980, 1990. For more information about the continued, but at much slower
CPS, see <www.census.gov/apsd/techdoc
Survey (CPS), and the 1996, 2001, /cps/cps-main.html>; 1996–2009: U.S. rates than the period between
2004, and 2008 SIPP panels, Figure Census Bureau, Survey of Income and 1970 and 1990. The SIPP allows
Program Participation, 1986, 1996, 2001,
2004, and 2008 Panels, Wave 2 Topical us to look at detailed changes in
Module. For information on sampling and living arrangements since 1990.
nonsampling error, see <www.census.gov
/sipp/source.html>; Ruggles, Steven and
Table 1 shows changes in children’s
Matthew Sobek et al., Integrated Public-Use living arrangements from 1991 to
3
Martin, Joyce A., M.P.H.; Brady E. Microdata Series: Version 2.0, Minneapolis:
Hamilton, Ph.D.; Paul D. Sutton, Ph.D.; Historical Census Projects, University of
2009. The percentage of children
Stephanie J. Ventura, M.A.; T.J. Mathews, M.S.; Minnesota, 1997. For more information, see living with two parents declined
Sharon Kirmeyer, Ph.D.; and Michelle J.K. <www.ipums.umn.edu>. See Internet Table 2,
less between 1990 and 2009 than
Osterman, M.H.S.; “Births: Final Data 2007,” <www.census.gov/hhes/socdemo/children
National Vital Statistics Reports, National /data/sipp/living2009/tab02.xls>. it had between 1970 and 1990; 73
Center for Health Statistics, Hyattsville, MD, Race and Hispanic origin were collected percent of children lived in two-
2010, Vol. 58, No. 24. differently in earlier years compared
Kennedy, Sheela and Larry Bumpass, with 2004 and 2009. In 2004 and later, parent households in 1991 com-
“Cohabitation and Children’s Living respondents could mark all race groups they pared to 69 percent in 2009 (a 4
Arrangements: New Estimates From the chose, while in earlier years they had to
United States,” Demographic Research, 2008. choose just one group. In 1986, 1996, and percent decline compared to a 13
Vol. 19, pp. 1663–1692. 2001, Asian includes Pacific Islanders, while percent decline between 1970 and
4
Because Hispanics may be any race, data in 2004 and 2009 it does not. In 2004 and
in this report for Hispanics overlap with data 2009, Black, White, and Asian include those 1990). Children living with their
for the White, Black, and Asian populations. who marked only the category indicated. mother without their father present
Based on the population under 18 years old 6
The estimates in this report (which
in the 2008 SIPP panel, Wave 2, 26 percent of may be shown in text, figures, and tables)
the White-alone population, 9 percent of the are based on responses of a sample of the 7
Living with mother only refers to
Black-alone population, and 2 percent of the population and may differ from the actual households with no father present, other
Asian-alone population were also Hispanic. values because of sampling variability relatives or nonrelatives may be present.
Grieco, Liz, “Race and Hispanic Origin of or other factors. As a result, apparent 8
“Health, United States: 2009,” National
the Foreign-Born Population in the United differences between the estimates for two Center for Health Statistics, Hyattsville,
States: 2007,” American Community Survey or more groups may not be statistically MD, 2010.
Reports, ACS-11, U.S. Census Bureau, significant. All comparative statements 9
See detailed Table 2 on the Web site,
Washington, DC, 2010, available at have undergone statistical testing and are available at: <www.census.gov/hhes
<www.census.gov/prod/2010pubs significant at the 90 percent confidence level /socdemo/children/data/sipp/living2009
/acs-11.pdf>. unless otherwise noted. /tab02.xls>.

U.S. Census Bureau 3

Table 1.
Children by Presence and Type of Parent(s) and Race and Hispanic Origin: 1991, 1996,
2001, 2004, and 20091
(Numbers in thousands)
2009, 2004,
Living arrangements
2009, 2004, 2001, 1996, 1991, White White 2001, 1996, 1991,
of children
total total total total total2 alone alone White White White
Children. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74,129 73,227 72,501 71,494 65,727 56,117 55,901 56,652 56,212 51,944
Percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Living with:
Two parents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68.6 69.7 70.5 70.9 72.8 74.7 76.0 76.6 77.3 78.9
Married parents. . . . . . . . . . . 64.7 66.6 67.6 68.8 71.7 70.8 73.2 73.9 75.3 (NA)
Unmarried parents. . . . . . . . . 3.9 3.0 2.9 2.1 1.0 3.9 2.8 2.6 2.0 (NA)
One parent. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.3 26.4 25.5 25.4 24.0 22.1 21.1 20.5 19.8 19.1
Mother only. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23.6 23.2 22.5 22.9 21.2 18.5 18.0 17.5 17.1 16.4
Father only. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.7 3.2 3.0 2.6 2.7 3.6 3.2 3.0 2.7 2.7
No parent. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2 3.9 4.0 3.7 3.3 3.1 2.9 2.9 2.9 1.9
Grandparents only. . . . . . . . . 2.5 2.2 1.9 1.8 1.7 1.8 1.5 1.3 1.1 0.9

At least 1 biological parent . . . 93.8 94.4 94.5 94.7 96.7 95.2 95.7 95.8 (NA) (NA)
At least 1 stepparent. . . . . . . . 7.5 7.6 7.0 6.9 7.0 7.9 8.0 7.4 7.2 7.6
At least 1 adoptive parent. . . . 1.9 2.1 1.9 2.1 1.6 1.5 1.9 1.8 2.0 1.5

See footnotes at end of table.

increased from 21 percent to 24 Figures 2 through 4 show children’s In 1991, 79 percent of White
percent (a 2 percent increase com- living arrangements for White, children lived with two parents
pared to the 11 percent increase Black, and Hispanic children. The compared to 64 percent of His-
between 1970 and 1990). percentage of children living with panic children and 42 percent of
two parents declined 4 percentage Black children. By 2009, 75 percent
Living arrangements of children
points for White children and of White children lived with two
vary by race and Hispanic origin.10
5 percentage points for Black chil- parents compared to 67 percent of
dren between 1991 and 2009, and Hispanic children and 37 percent of
10
Federal surveys now give respondents increased by 3 percentage points Black children.
the option of reporting more than one race.
Therefore, two basic ways of defining a
for Hispanic children.11
Figure 5 shows the percentage
race group are possible. A group such as
Asian may be defined as those who reported What is most striking during this of children who lived in a house-
Asian and no other race (the race-alone time period is the persistent dif- hold that contained grandparents
or single-race concept) or as those who
reported Asian regardless of whether they ferences in the patterns of living between 1991 and 2009 by race and
also reported another race (the race-alone- arrangements by race and origin. origin. In 1991, 5 percent of White,
or-in-combination concept). The body of this
report (text, figures, and text tables) shows While the percentage of White 15 percent of Black, and 12 percent
data for people who reported they were the children living with their mother of Hispanic children lived with at
single race White and not Hispanic, those
who reported the single race White, those without their father present ranged least one grandparent. By 2009, 9
who reported the single race Black, and those from 16 percent in 1991 to 19 percent of White, 17 percent of Black,
who reported the single race Asian. Use of
the single-race populations does not imply
percent in 2009, the corresponding and 14 percent of Hispanic children
that it is the preferred method of presenting percentage for Hispanic children lived with at least one grandparent.12
or analyzing data. The Census Bureau uses a
variety of approaches.
ranged from 29 percent in 1991 Most of these children also lived with
For further information, see the Census to 26 percent in 2009. However, at least one parent.
2000 brief “Overview of Race and Hispanic
47 percent of Black children lived
Origin: 2000” (C2KBR/01-1) at <www.census Some children who do not live with
.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs.html>. with only their mother in 1991 and
Hispanics may be any race. Data for the a parent live with a grandparent.
about half lived with only their
American Indian and Alaska Native population In 1991, about 1 percent of White
are not shown in this report because of their mother in 2009.
small sample size in the SIPP. and Hispanic children lived with a
This report will refer to the White-
alone population as White, the Black-alone 11
The proportions of White children
population as Black, the Asian-alone and Black children living with two parents 12
The percentages for Black and Hispanic
population as Asian, and the White-alone non- are not significantly different between 1991 children for 1991 and 2009 do not differ
Hispanic population as White, non-Hispanic. and 2009. significantly.

4 U.S. Census Bureau

Table 1.
Children by Presence and Type of Parent(s) and Race and Hispanic Origin: 1991, 1996,
2001, 2004, and 20091—Con.
(Numbers in thousands)
2009, 2004, 2009, 2004, 2001, 1996, 1991,
Living arrangements
Black- Black- 2001, 1996, 1991, Hispanic Hispanic Hispanic Hispanic Hispanic
of children
alone alone Black Black Black (any race) (any race) (any race) (any race) (any race)
Children. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,272 11,354 11,766 11,631 10,571 16,347 13,984 12,611 10,428 7,525
Percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Living with:
Two parents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36.6 37.6 39.5 37.8 41.7 67.4 68.0 69.4 68.2 64.1
Married parents. . . . . . . . . . . 32.6 33.9 35.4 35.5 (NA) 61.3 63.4 64.6 63.6 (NA)
Unmarried parents. . . . . . . . . 4.0 3.7 4.1 2.3 (NA) 6.0 4.6 4.8 4.7 (NA)
One parent. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54.7 53.6 51.1 54.3 49.2 28.6 27.6 26.3 27.5 31.1
Mother only. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.4 50.3 47.7 52.3 46.7 25.7 25.6 24.2 25.8 28.5
Father only. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3 3.3 3.3 2.0 2.4 3.0 2.0 2.2 1.7 2.6
No parent. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.7 8.8 9.4 7.9 9.2 4.0 4.4 4.2 4.3 4.8
Grandparents only. . . . . . . . . 5.5 5.4 5.2 4.9 5.4 2.5 1.9 1.7 1.4 1.3

At least 1 biological parent . . . 88.5 88.9 88.7 (NA) (NA) 94.7 94.3 94.9 (NA) (NA)
At least 1 stepparent. . . . . . . . 6.6 6.1 6.5 5.6 4.1 7.5 6.6 6.4 5.4 5.6
At least 1 adoptive parent. . . . 2.3 2.2 1.9 1.7 1.2 1.0 1.3 1.0 1.1 0.9
NA Not available.
1
Race and Hispanic origin were collected differently in earlier years compared with 2004 and 2009. In 2004 and later, respondents could mark all race groups
they chose, while in earlier years they had to choose just one group. In 1996 and 2001, Asian includes Pacific Islanders, while in 2004 and 2009 it does not. In 2004
and 2009, Black, White, and Asian include those who marked only the category indicated.
2
In 1991, children living with a foster mother and father are included in the total.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), 1991, 1996, 2001, 2004, and 2008 Panels, Wave 2 Topical Module. For
information on sampling and nonsampling error, see <www.census.gov/sipp/source.html>.

grandparent and no parent com- patterns underlie differences in cur- 2009—almost 20 years after the
pared to about 5 percent of Black rent and future family structure.14 first report.16
children. By 2009, about 2 percent
of White and Hispanic children lived CHILDREN’S LIVING Children Living With One, Two,
with a grandparent and no parent, ARRANGEMENTS 2009 or No Parents
while the percentage of Black chil- When the first SIPP children’s report Not all children live in two-parent
dren remained about 5 percent (see was published based on data households. Some children may live
Table 1).13 collected in 1991, 73 percent of with only one or even no parents
children lived with both parents.15 because of divorce, separation, or
During 1991 through 2009, change
The earlier section of this report the death of one or both parents. In
in the number of parents children
examined historical changes in the 2009, 69 percent of the 74.1 million
lived with was relatively slow, com-
living arrangements of children. children under age 18 lived with
pared with the pace of change from
This section will describe the two parents, down from 73 percent
1970 to 1990. Perhaps the most
interesting pattern during this time living arrangements of children in
16
The data in this report were collected
period was the continuing differ- from January through April 2009 in the second
ence among race and ethnic groups. wave (interview) of the 2008 SIPP Panel. The
population represented (the population universe)
Cultural factors, demographic is the civilian noninstitutionalized population
characteristics, and family formation living in households with children under 18
years old in the United States. Detailed tables
14
Morgan, S. Philip et al., “Racial for this report can be accessed on the Census
Differences in Household and Family Structure Bureau’s Web site at <www.census.gov
at the Turn of the Century,” American Journal /population/www/socdemo/child/la-child
of Sociology, January 1993, Vol. 98, .html>. The items asked in the household
pp. 798–828. relationship topical module, which include
15
Furukawa, Stacy, “The Diverse Living detailed relationships of all household members
13
The proportion of White children and Arrangements of Children: Summer 1991,” to all others, are also available on the Census
Hispanic children that do not live with a parent Current Population Reports, P70-38, U.S. Bureau’s Web site at <www.census.gov/sipp
but live with a grandparent are significantly Census Bureau, U.S. Government Printing /core_content/2008 /quests/wave2
different in 2009. Office, Washington, DC, 1994. /2008w2core.pdf>.

U.S. Census Bureau 5

 in 1991 (see Table 2). Twenty seven
Figure 2. percent (20.2 million) lived with
Children’s Living Arrangements for WHITE one parent in 2009, up from 24
Children: Selected Years, 1991 to 2009 percent in 1991. The majority (86
percent) of these children lived
Percent with their mother. The remaining
100 4 percent of children in 2009 lived
No parent-other
90 No parent-grandparents with no parent. Figure 6 illustrates
One parent-father the distribution of all children
80 One parent-mother
across the number and type of par-
Two parents
70
ents with whom they lived, while
Table 2 details the living arrange-
60 ments of children by race groups
50 and Hispanic origin.

40 A large majority of White non-

Hispanic (75 percent) and Asian
30 (86 percent) children lived with two
20 parents. This is higher than the
proportion for Hispanic children (67
10 percent) and about twice as high
0 as the proportion for Black children
1991 1996 2001 2004 2009 (37 percent). A higher proportion
of Black children than White, non-
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP),
1991, 1996, 2001, 2004 and 2008 Panels, Wave 2 Topical Module. For information Hispanic or Hispanic children lived
on sampling and nonsampling error see <www.census.gov/sipp/source.html> with one parent in 2009: 55 percent
compared with 21 percent and 29
percent, respectively.

Figure 3. In 2009, 5.6 million children lived

with at least one stepparent.17 In
Children’s Living Arrangements for BLACK
addition, 3.1 million children lived
Children: Selected Years, 1991 to 2009
with no parents; this figure included
Percent 274,000 children living with one
100 or more foster parents. Over half
No parent-other
No parent-grandparents (59 percent) of the children living
90
One parent-father with no parents were living with
80 One parent-mother grandparents. Sixty-four percent of
Two parents
Black children, 55 percent of White,
70
non-Hispanic children, 35 percent
60 of Asian children, and 61 percent of
Hispanic children without a parent
50
present lived with grandparents.18
40

30

20
17
Stepchildren are identified by the
10 survey respondent and their stepparent may
not be currently married to the child’s other
0 coresidential parent.
18
The percentage of White, non-Hispanic
1991 1996 2001 2004 2009
children and Hispanic children living with no
parents who lived with their grandparents
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP),
do not differ significantly. The percentage
1991, 1996, 2001, 2004, and 2008 Panels, Wave 2 Topical Module. For information
of Hispanic children and Black children
on sampling and nonsampling error, see <www.census.gov/sipp/source.html>.
living with no parents who lived with their
grandparents do not differ significantly.

6 U.S. Census Bureau

 Roughly 1 in 8 children living with
Figure 4. two parents lived with a step-
Children’s Living Arrangements for HISPANIC parent or adoptive parent. In 2009,
Children: Selected Years, 1991 to 2009 5.4 million children lived with
one biological parent and either a
Percent stepparent or adoptive parent—11
100
No parent-other percent of all those living with two
No parent-grandparents parents. This percentage was statis-
90
One parent-father
tically unchanged from 11 percent
80 One parent-mother
Two parents of children living with two parents
70 in 2004 and 2001, and 10 percent
in 1996.20
60
In 2009, 91 percent of Asian chil-
50
dren living with two parents lived
40 with both biological parents, higher
than any of the other groups shown
30
in Table 2. Black children had the
20 lowest percentage (79 percent) liv-
ing with both biological parents of
10
those living with two parents.
0
In 2009, 210,000 children lived with
1991 1996 2001 2004 2009
one adoptive parent and a nonadop-
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), tive parent (biological or step). Sixty-
1991, 1996, 2001, 2004, and 2008 Panels, Wave 2 Topical Module. For information seven percent of these children were
on sampling and nonsampling error, see <www.census.gov/sipp/source.html>.
living with their biological mother
and an adoptive father; it is possible
that many of these adoptive fathers
Children Living With Two stepparent, and 2 percent lived with were initially stepfathers.21
Parents: Biological, Step, and at least one adoptive parent.
Adoptive
Children Living With
Of the 50.8 million children who
Living arrangements of children Unmarried Parents
lived with two parents in 2009, 87
are often dichotomized by whether Numerous factors, including non-
percent (44.5 million) lived with
children live with one or two par- marital childbearing, death, and
their biological mother and biologi-
ents. However, details in the SIPP divorce, affect whether children live
cal father (Table 2).19 An additional
data illustrate that even among with an unmarried parent for some
10 percent (5.3 million) lived with a
children living with two parents, portion of their childhood.
biological parent and a stepparent,
considerable variation exists in the
usually with a biological mother
combinations of parental types, For the purpose of this report,
and a stepfather (4.1 million).
whether biological, step-, or adop- parents that are separated or mar-
About 2 percent of children living
tive parents. The previous section ried but their spouse is not present
with two parents (1.1 million) lived
described the presence or absence in the household are included in
with either two adoptive parents
of parents living with children; this the unmarried category along with
or a combination of an adoptive
section describes the types of par-
parent and a biological parent or an
ents children live with in two-parent
adoptive parent and a stepparent. 20
The percentages for 2004 and 1996
households. Because families break differ statistically.
21
In 1992, 42 percent of all adoptions in
up and then re-form not all children the United States, whether public, private, or
who live with two parents live with intercountry, were stepparent adoptions. See
19
In cases where children pointed to two the following report for further details; “How
both biological parents. Overall, parents, but these parents were not reported Many Children Were Adopted in 2000 and
94 percent of children lived with at as married to each other or cohabiting with 2001?,” Child Welfare Information Gateway,
each other, the children are shown as living U.S. Department of Health and Human
least one biological parent, while with cohabiting parents. This affected 259,000 Services, Washington, DC, 2004. This report
8 percent lived with at least one children (weighted). In the tables, these children can be accessed at: <www.childwelfare.gov
are shown as living with cohabiting parents. /pubs/s_adopted/index.cfm>.

U.S. Census Bureau 7

 Figure 5.
Percentage of Children Living With at Least One Grandparent: Selected Years,
1991 to 2009

1991 1996 2001 2004 2009

Percent
18

16

14

12

10

0
Total White Black Hispanic

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), 1991, 1996, 2001, 2004, and 2008 Panels,
Wave 2 Topical Module. For information on sampling and nonsampling error, see <www.census.gov/sipp/source.html>.

widowed, divorced, or never- parents22 and 2 in 5 are expected race and Hispanic origin, with 12
married parents. to live in a cohabiting family by percent of Asian children living
the time they are aged 12.23 Figure with one or two unmarried parents,
This is because this report is
7 shows the number of children compared with 24 percent of White,
focused on the existing living
living with both biological parents, non-Hispanic children, 35 percent
arrangements, because the data
one biological and one step- or of Hispanic children, and 59 per-
only show coresidential parents,
adoptive parent, biological mother cent of Black children. Four percent
and because separated and married
only, and biological father only by (2.9 million) of all children lived
spouse absent parent categories are
race and Hispanic origin. with both a mother and father who
too small to be shown separately.
were not married to each other.
Table 3 shows that in 2009, 23.1
While children living with unmar- Asian children were least likely to
million children (31 percent of all
ried parents are sometimes thought live with two parents who were not
children) lived with at least one
of as living with a parent who is the married to each other (2 percent),
unmarried parent. This varied by
only adult in the household, many compared with 3 percent of White,
unmarried parents are cohabiting— non-Hispanic, 4 percent of Black,
22
Manlove, Jennifer, Suzanne Ryan,
either with the other biological Elizabeth Wildsmith, and Kerry Franzetta,
and 6 percent of Hispanic children.
parent of the child or with another “The Relationship Context of Nonmarital
Childbearing in the United States,” Based on children’s living arrange-
partner. About 1 in 5 children are Demographic Research, 2010, Vol. 23, ments in the 1990s, Heuveline et
born to unmarried cohabiting pp. 615–654.
23
Kennedy, Sheela and Larry Bumpass, al. estimated that about half of
“Cohabitation and Children’s Living children under age 16 would live
Arrangements: New Estimates From the
United States,” Demographic Research, 2008, in a single-parent household at
Vol. 19, pp. 1663–1692.

8 U.S. Census Bureau

 Figure 6.
Percentage of Children Aged 0–17 Living in Various Family Arrangements: 2009

Two biological/adoptive married parents1 84.9

One bio/adoptive parent and stepparent2 10.4
Two biological/adoptive cohabiting parents3 4.7
Two parents 69%

Single mother, no partner4 77.2

Single mother with partner4 8.4
Single father, no partner4 11.1
Single father with partner4 1.9
Single step parent 1.4

Grandparent 59.4
Other Relatives 18.1
One parent 27%

Nonrelatives 8.7
Other Relatives and Nonrelatives 4.3
Foster Parent(s) 8.9
Neither parent 4% Own Household or Partner of Householder 0.6

1
Child points to two parents, who are married to each other—either two biological, two adoptive, or one biological and one adoptive.
2
Child points to two parents, either married or cohabiting—one is a biological or adoptive parent, one is a stepparent, or both are stepparents.
3
Child points to two parents, who are not married to each other—either two biological, two adoptive, or one biological and one adoptive.
4
Child points to one parent, biological or adoptive.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), 2008 Panel, Wave 2 Topical Module. For information on
sampling and nonsampling error, see <www.census.gov/sipp/sourceac/S&A08_W1toW3(S&A-12).pdf>.

U.S. Census Bureau 9

Table 2.
Children by Presence and Type of Parent(s) and Race and Hispanic Origin: 1991, 1996,
2001, 2004, and 2009
(Numbers in thousands)
2009
Total Race and Hispanic origin
Living arrangements White
of children Margin alone,
of White non- Black Asian Hispanic
Number Percent error1 alone Hispanic alone alone (any race)
Children. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74,129 787 56,117 41,503 11,272 2,629 16,347
Percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0

Living with:
Two parents3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50,835 68.6 0.6 41,934 31,784 4,129 2,250 11,012
Married parents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47,925 64.7 0.6 39,755 30,475 3,678 2,208 10,027
Unmarried parents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,908 3.9 0.2 2,179 1,309 452 42 985

Biological mother and father. . . . . . . . . . 44,455 60.0 0.6 37,031 28,004 3,277 2,047 9,719
Married parents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42,060 56.7 0.6 35,241 26,955 2,910 2,013 8,877
Biological mother and stepfather. . . . . . . 4,061 5.5 0.3 3,238 2,396 568 37 971
Biological father and stepmother. . . . . . . 1,195 1.6 0.2 959 785 111 28 188
Biological mother and adoptive father. . . 141 0.2 0.1 106 96 3 12 11
Biological father and adoptive mother. . . 42 0.1 – 30 20 4 – 10
Adoptive mother and father. . . . . . . . . . . 906 1.2 0.1 539 464 167 125 103
Other5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 – – 31 19 – 3 11
One parent. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20,211 27.3 0.5 12,416 8,519 6,166 283 4,679
Mother only. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,468 23.6 0.5 10,384 6,907 5,683 213 4,194
Biological. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,051 23.0 0.5 10,135 6,690 5,572 187 4,139
Father only. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,743 3.7 0.2 2,032 1,612 484 70 485
Biological. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,588 3.5 0.2 1,941 1,541 445 61 451
No parent. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,083 4.2 0.2 1,768 1,201 976 96 656
Grandparents only. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,830 2.5 0.1 1,016 656 624 34 402
Other relatives only. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 632 0.9 0.1 371 251 202 30 147
Nonrelatives only. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545 0.7 – 338 276 121 31 81
Other arrangement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 0.1 0.3 42 19 30 – 26

At least 1 biological parent . . . . . . . . . . . . 69,535 93.8 0.3 53,440 39,531 9,979 2,370 15,488
At least 1 stepparent. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,582 7.5 0.3 4,420 3,355 748 79 1,221
At least 1 adoptive parent. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,395 1.9 0.2 845 729 254 163 168
At least 1 foster parent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274 0.4 0.1 166 136 69 4 49
  See footnotes at end of table.

10 U.S. Census Bureau

 Table 2.
Children by Presence and Type of Parent(s) and Race and Hispanic Origin: 1991, 1996,
2001, 2004, and 2009—Con.
(Numbers in thousands)

Percent Number
Living arrangements
of children
2004, 2001, 1996, 1991, 2004, 2001, 1996, 1991,
total total total total2 total total total total
Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73,227 72,501 71,494 65,727 73,227 72,501 71,494 65,727
Percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 .0 100 .0 100 .0 100 .0 100 .0 100 .0 100 .0 100.0

Living with:
Two parents3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 .7 70 .5 70 .9 72 .8 51,013 51,113 50,685 47,826
Married parents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 .6 67 .6 68 .8 71 .7 48,787 48,987 49,186 47,138
Unmarried parents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 .0 2 .9 2 .1 1 .0 2,227 2,126 1,499 688

Biological mother and father . . . . . . . . . . 60 .8 62 .2 62 .5 61 .7 44,541 45,103 44,708 40,553

Married parents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 .3 59 .7 60 .7 (NA) 42,727 43,287 43,401 (NA)
Biological mother and stepfather . . . . . . . 5 .7 5 .6 5 .2 5 .6 4,149 4,050 3,723 3,672
Biological father and stepmother . . . . . . . 1 .5 1 .1 1 .4 1 .3 1,106 815 1,004 830
Biological mother and adoptive father . . . 0 .6 0 .6 0 .7 4
(NA) 407 445 479 (NA)
Biological father and adoptive mother . . . 0 .1 0 .1 0 .1 4
(NA) 49 56 37 (NA)
Adoptive mother and father . . . . . . . . . . . 0 .9 0 .8 1 .0 0 .9 668 605 702 582
Other5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 .1 0 .1 – 3 .0 95 39 32 1,994
One parent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 .4 25 .5 25 .4 24 .0 19,336 18,472 18,165 15,748
Mother only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 .2 22 .5 22 .9 21 .2 16,973 16,297 16,340 13,955
Biological . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 .6 22 .0 22 .5 (NA) 16,574 15,980 16,051 (NA)
Father only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 .2 3 .0 2 .6 2 .7 2,363 2,175 1,825 1,793
Biological . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 .1 2 .9 2 .4 (NA) 2,280 2,082 1,737 (NA)
No parent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 .9 4 .0 3 .7 3 .3 2,878 2,917 2,644 2,153
Grandparents only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 .2 1 .9 1 .8 1 .7 1,598 1,407 1,266 1,099
Other relatives only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 .9 1 .2 1 .0 (NA) 641 889 688 (NA)
Nonrelatives only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 .8 0 .7 0 .9 (NA) 558 520 622 (NA)
Other arrangement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 .1 0 .1 0 .1 (NA) 81 101 69 (NA)

At least 1 biological parent . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 .4 94 .5 94 .7 96 .7 69,105 68,531 67,739 63,574

At least 1 stepparent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 .6 7 .0 6 .9 7 .0 5,532 5,081 4,902 4,594
At least 1 adoptive parent . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 .1 1 .9 2 .1 1 .6 1,504 1,372 1,484 1,062
At least 1 foster parent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 .4 0 .4 0 .4 0 .3 308 260 313 207

– Represents or rounds to zero .

NA Not available .
1
This number, when added to or subtracted from the estimated total number of children under age 18 in each category, represents the 90 percent
confidence interval around the estimate .
2
In 1991, children living with a foster mother and father are included in the total .
3
In the Survey of Income and Program Participation, two coresident parents can be identified regardless of their marital status . This means that both
married and unmarried parents are included in this category in this table .
4
In 1991 only, children living with one biological parent and one adoptive parent were shown in a biological parent/stepparent category .
5
Includes children living with one adoptive parent and one stepparent or with two stepparents . Estimates for 1991 include children for whom the type of
relationship with the parent was not specified and not imputed .
Source: U .S . Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), 1991, 1996, 2001, 2004, and 2008 Panels, Wave 2 Topical Module .
For information on sampling and nonsampling error, see <www .census .gov/sipp/source .html> .

U.S. Census Bureau 11

Table 3.
Children by Parent’s Cohabitation Status and Race and Hispanic Origin: 2009
(Numbers in thousands)
Total Race and Hispanic origin
Percent Number
Living arrangements of White White
children alone, His- alone, His-
Non- panic Non- panic
Num- Per- White His- Black Asian (any White His- Black Asian (any
ber cent alone panic alone alone race) alone panic alone alone race)
Children. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74,129 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 56,117 41,503 11,272 2,629 16,347

Living with married parents . . . 47,925 64.7 70.8 73.4 32.6 84.0 61.3 39,755 30,475 3,678 2,208 10,027

Living with no parent . . . . . . . . 3,083 4.2 3.1 2.9 8.7 3.6 4.0 1,768 1,201 976 96 656

Living with an unmarried

parent1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23,119 31.2 26.0 23.7 58.7 12.3 34.6 14,595 9,827 6,618 324 5,664
Living with unmarried
mother and father . . . . . . . . 2,908 3.9 3.9 3.2 4.0 1.6 6.0 2,180 1,309 452 42 986
Living with unmarried
mother only . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,468 23.6 18.5 16.6 50.4 8.1 25.7 10,384 6,907 5,683 213 4,194
Living with unmarried
father only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,743 3.7 3.6 3.9 4.3 2.7 3.0 2,032 1,612 484 70 485
Parent has an unmarried
partner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,828 6.5 6.5 5.8 6.6 2.0 8.6 3,639 2,416 743 53 1,398
Biological mother and
father . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,396 3.2 3.2 2.5 3.3 1.3 5.2 1,790 1,049 367 34 842
One biological parent, one
step- or adoptive parent . . 515 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.8 0.3 0.9 390 260 85 8 144
Biological mother or
father, partner . . . . . . . . . . 1,802 2.4 2.5 2.5 2.4 0.3 2.4 1,382 1,041 266 8 393
Step- or adoptive parent,
partner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 77 66 26 3 20
Parent has no unmarried
partner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,293 24.7 19.5 17.9 52.1 10.3 26.1 10,956 7,411 5,875 271 4,266
Biological mother. . . . . . . . . 15,600 21.0 16.1 14.2 47.4 6.8 23.2 9,035 5,891 5,343 179 3,796
Living with other adult
relative2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,735 5.0 4.1 3.3 9.9 2.3 6.6 2,317 1,378 1,111 60 1,073
Living with opposite sex
adult nonrelative3. . . . . . . 318 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.6 0.1 0.6 222 157 63 2 90
Biological father. . . . . . . . . . 2,239 3.0 3.0 3.1 3.6 2.3 2.5 1,657 1,298 407 60 401
Living with other adult
relative2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489 0.7 0.5 0.4 1.2 0.8 1.0 306 166 130 22 163
Living with opposite sex
adult nonrelative3. . . . . . . 54 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 – 0.1 41 30 11 – 12
Stepparent or adoptive
parent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455 0.6 0.5 0.5 1.1 1.2 0.4 263 222 124 32 70
– Represents or rounds to zero.
1
Unmarried includes married, spouse absent; widowed, divorced, separated, and never married.
2
The category “other adult relative” does not include the child’s siblings.
3
Only includes “adult nonrelatives” who are not in the category “married spouse present.”
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation, 2008 Panel, Wave 2 Topical Module. For information on sampling and nonsampling
error, see <www.census.gov/sipp/sourceac/S&A08_W1toW3(S&A-12).pdf>.

12 U.S. Census Bureau

Table 4.
Children Living With Siblings by Type of Relationship and Presence of Parent: 2009
(Numbers in thousands)
Total Two parents Mother only Father only No parents
Presence of siblings Margin
Number Percent of error1 Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent
Children. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74,129 100.0 787 50,835 100.0 17,468 100.0 2,743 100.0 3,083 100.0

Living with:
At least one sibling . . . . . . . . . . . 57,743 77.9 0.5 42,289 83.2 12,734 72.9 1,680 61.2 1,039 33.7
Only full siblings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47,624 64.2 0.6 34,917 68.7 10,337 59.2 1,492 54.4 877 28.5
At least one stepsibling. . . . . . . . 1,267 1.7 0.2 861 1.7 273 1.6 115 4.2 19 0.6
At least one adopted sibling . . . . 1,231 1.7 0.2 1,056 2.1 132 0.8 18 0.7 24 0.8
At least one half sibling. . . . . . . . 7,987 10.8 0.4 5,777 11.4 2,029 11.6 61 2.2 120 3.9

Living with:
No siblings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,385 22.1 0.5 8,546 16.8 4,734 27.1 1,063 38.8 2,043 66.3
1 sibling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28,166 38.0 0.6 20,292 39.9 6,148 35.2 1,088 39.7 637 20.7
2 siblings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,853 24.1 0.5 13,349 26.3 3,822 21.9 410 14.9 272 8.8
3 siblings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,754 10.5 0.4 5,677 11.2 1,849 10.6 144 5.2 85 2.8
4 or more siblings . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,970 5.4 0.3 2,972 5.8 915 5.2 38 1.4 45 1.5
1
This number, when added to or subtracted from the estimate, represents the 90 percent confidence interval around the estimate.
Note: Children are under age 18. Their siblings may be any age.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), 2008 Panel, Wave 2 Topical Module. For information on sampling and
nonsampling error, see <www.census.gov/sipp/sourceac/S&A08_W1toW3(S&A-12).pdf>.

some time before reaching age 16.24 present. Of the 19.9 million children cohabiting parent.26 The proportion
Twenty-four percent of all children living with their unmarried biologi- of children living with cohabiting par-
lived with their unmarried mother cal mothers, 4.3 million (21 percent) ents who lived with both biological
without their father present (17.5 had mothers who were living with parents varied across race and origin.
million), while 4 percent (2.7 million) unmarried partners. In comparison, About half of White, non-Hispanic
lived with their unmarried father of the 5.1 million children living children and Black children living
without their mother present. The with their unmarried biological with cohabiting parents lived with
percentage of children living with fathers, 2.7 million (54 percent) both biological parents. A majority of
their unmarried mother without their were living with fathers who were Hispanic children (60 percent) living
father present varied widely among living with an unmarried partner, with cohabiting parents were living
race and origin groups, from 8 per- of whom 2.4 million were also the with both biological parents.
cent for Asian children to 50 percent child’s biological mother. Indeed, 94
for Black children. Seventeen percent percent of all fathers who lived with Children With Siblings
of White, non-Hispanic children and their children under age 18 also In addition to the number and types
26 percent of Hispanic children also lived with the child’s mother.25 of parents with whom children live,
lived with their unmarried mother another aspect of growing up is the
Seven percent of all children under
without their father present. presence of brothers and sisters
age 18 lived with an unmarried par-
The overall pattern of living arrange- ent that was cohabiting. The percent- (Table 4). Most children lived with at
ments of children with unmarried age of all children who lived with a least one sibling (78 percent). About
parents clearly indicates that women cohabiting parent ranged from 2 per- 22 percent of children (16.4 million)
are the primary custodial parents cent for Asian children to 9 percent in 2009 were currently living with no
of these children, and that these for Hispanic children. Six percent of siblings in the household. Another
children usually have unmarried White, non-Hispanic children and 7 28.1 million children (38 percent)
mothers living without a partner percent of Black children lived with a lived with only one sibling, while the

24
Heuveline, Patrick, Jeffrey M. Timberlake
26
The percentage of Black children
and Frank F. Furstenberg, Jr., “Shifting Kreider, Rose M. and Diana B. Elliott,
25 who lived with a cohabiting parent was
Childbearing to Single Mothers: Results “America’s Families and Living Arrangements: not statistically different from the overall
From 17 Western Countries,” Population and 2007,” Current Population Reports, P20-561, percentages of children living with a
Development Review, 2003, Vol. 29:1, U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, DC, 2009. cohabiting parent or the White, non-Hispanic
pp. 47–71. children who lived with a cohabiting parent.

U.S. Census Bureau 13

 Figure 7.
Children Living With Cohabiting Parents by Number and Type of Parents: 2009

Both biological One biological Biological Biological father One step- or

parents parent and one mother only only adoptive parent
step- or adoptive
parent

All 4,828

White, non–Hispanic 2,416

Black 743

Hispanic 1,398

0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 3,500 4,000 4,500 5,000
Number of Children (in thousands)

Note: Base less than 75,000 for Asian children, so this group cannot be shown in this figure.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), 2008 Panel, Wave 2 Topical Module. For information on
sampling and nonsampling error, see <www.census.gov/sipp/sourceac/S&A08_W1toW3(S&A-12).pdf>.

remaining 29.6 million (40 percent) sibling.27 A larger proportion of Children With Half Siblings
lived with two or more siblings. The children living with two parents had
In addition to living with siblings,
majority (62 percent) lived with one siblings (83 percent) than was the
some children live in blended fami-
or two siblings, while 16 percent case for children living with their
lies with half siblings present.
lived with three or more siblings. mother only (73 percent) or their
father only (61 percent). These dif- Recent research suggests that
Of the 57.7 million children living
ferences could result from siblings living with a half sibling is associ-
with siblings, 47.6 million lived
being split up after divorce or ated with lower well-being.28 SIPP
only with full siblings (children who
separation. Among the 3.1 million is one of the few data sources that
had the same biological mother
children living with no parents, 34
and father). Eleven percent of all 28
Wood Strow, Claudia, and Brian Kent
percent lived with siblings. Strow, “Evidence That the Presence of a Half
children lived with at least one half Sibling Negatively Impacts a Child’s Personal
sibling (sharing only one biologi- Development,” American Journal of Economics
and Sociology, 2008, Vol. 67:2, pp. 177–206.
cal parent), 2 percent with at least Ginther, Donna K. and Robert A. Pollak.
one stepsibling (having no common “Family Structure and Children’s Educational
Outcomes: Blended Families, Stylized Facts,
biological parent), and another 2
and Descriptive Regressions,” Demography,
percent with at least one adopted 2004, Vol. 41:4, pp. 671–696.
27
The percentage of children who lived Halpern-Meekin, Sarah and Laura Tach,
with at least one stepsibling does not differ “Heterogeneity in Two-Parent Families and
statistically from the percentage of children Adolescent Well-Being,” Journal of Marriage
who lived with at least one adopted sibling. and Family, 2008, Vol. 70, pp. 435–451.

14 U.S. Census Bureau

Table 5.
Children Living With Half Siblings by Number of Coresident Biological Parents: 2009
(Numbers in thousands)
Margin White-alone,
Living arrangements of children of White non- Black Asian
Total error1 alone Hispanic alone alone Hispanic
Children. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74,129 787 56,117 41,503 11,272 2,629 16,347

Living with half siblings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,987 293 5,930 4,103 1,329 112 2,068
Living with two parents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,777 251 4,588 3,128 735 80 1,573
Living with two biological parents . . . . . . . 3,465 195 2,719 1,820 474 54 955
At least one parent ever divorced . . . . . . 1,331 121 1,087 842 149 11 256
Only mother ever divorced. . . . . . . . . . . 804 94 681 520 76 4 165
Only father ever divorced . . . . . . . . . . . 527 76 406 322 73 7 91
Both ever divorced. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569 79 503 405 15 13 102
Neither ever divorced. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,565 131 1,129 574 309 31 597
Living with one biological parent . . . . . . . . 2,312 159 1,869 1,307 261 26 617
At least one parent ever divorced . . . . . . 937 102 783 597 83 7 199
Only biological parent divorced. . . . . . . 695 88 604 484 37 5 126
Only nonbiological parent divorced. . . . 242 52 179 113 46 2 73
Both ever divorced. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435 69 396 338 6 11 61
Neither ever divorced. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 941 102 690 372 173 9 357
Living with one parent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,090 152 1,289 931 565 15 482
Mother never married . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 946 102 423 268 425 3 232
Mother married once. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 700 88 501 347 102 6 199
Mother married 2 or more times . . . . . . . . 383 65 313 279 31 4 37
Living with father . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 26 51 38 7 3 13
Living with no parents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 36 54 45 29 16 13
1
This number, when added to or subtracted from the estimate, represents the 90 percent confidence interval around the estimate.
Note: Children are under age 18. Their siblings may be any age.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), 2008 Panel, Wave 2 Topical Module. For information on sampling and
nonsampling error, see <www.census.gov/sipp/sourceac/S&A08_W1toW3(S&A-12).pdf>.

can provide detailed information Of the 8.0 million children (11 per- two biological parents, while the
about the presence of half siblings cent) under age 18 who lived with a remainder lived with one.
for all children, rather than only half sibling, 5.8 million (72 percent)
Children can live with half siblings
those living with two parents. This lived with two parents (biologi-
because their parents divorced,
is because the SIPP directly asks cal, step, and adoptive), while 2.1
remarried and had subsequent
about each person’s relationship to million (26 percent) lived with one
children in the new marriage;
all other household members, while parent. This distribution varied by
through their parents’ multipart-
other surveys usually only identify race, with a lower percentage of
nered fertility outside of marriage;
sibling relationships indirectly by Black children (55 percent) who
or a combination of remarriage and
their relationship to a household lived with half siblings living with
fertility outside of marriage. The
reference person. Table 5 provides two parents than children of other
marital history characteristics of the
an overall distribution of children groups: 71 percent of Asian children
children’s parents in Table 5 shed
who lived with half siblings by the and 76 percent of both White, non-
some light on variation by race and
number of coresident parents. Given Hispanic and Hispanic children (76
Hispanic origin. Higher proportions
the relatively high prevalence of percent).30 Overall, 60 percent of the
of White, non-Hispanic children
divorce in the United States, and the 5.8 million children living with two
than Black children and Hispanic
sense that multipartner fertility may parents and a half sibling lived with
children who lived with two parents
be increasing, Table 5 also includes
and half siblings, lived with at least
several marital history characteris-
30
Percentages of White, non-Hispanic, one previously divorced parent (70
tics of the parents.29
Asian, and Hispanic children living with percent, 34 percent, and 39 percent,
two parents and half siblings do not differ
significantly. Percentages of Asian children
29
Guzzo, Karen B. and Frank F. living with two parents and half siblings are
Furstenberg, Jr., “Multipartnered Fertility not significantly different from the overall
Among American Men,” Demography, 2007, percentage of children living with two parents
Vol. 44:3, pp. 583–601. and half siblings.

U.S. Census Bureau 15

Table 6.
Children Living in Blended Families by Composition of Family and Child’s Race and
Hispanic Origin: 20091
(Numbers in thousands)
All races White alone
Relationships in household Margin of Non- Black Asian Hispanic
Estimate error2 Total Hispanic alone alone (any race)
Children. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74,129 787 56,117 41,503 11,272 2,629 16,347
Children living in a blended family. . . . . . . . . . 11,687 353 8,774 6,372 1,898 186 2,743
Percentage of all children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.8 0.4 15.6 15.4 16.8 7.1 16.8
Percentage of children living in a blended
family, of those living with 2 parents . . . . . . . 17.6 0.6 16.9 16.2 28.1 6.3 19.4
Percentage of children living in a blended
family, of those living with 1 parent . . . . . . . . 12.9 0.8 13.2 14.0 11.2 9.9 12.6

TYPE OF BLENDED FAMILY

Stepparent only. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,715 173 2,064 1,627 411 56 528
Stepsibling only. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277 55 178 122 74 14 56
Half sibling only. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,624 247 4,020 2,760 1,063 83 1,441
Stepparent and stepsibling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 682 87 582 503 81 5 88
Stepparent and half sibling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,924 146 1,559 1,065 241 19 541
Stepsibling and half sibling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 22 36 31 5 – 9
Stepparent, stepsibling, and
half sibling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261 54 216 160 15 – 64
One biological parent and one
adoptive parent, and step-, adopted,
or half siblings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162 42 120 104 7 10 16

Total living with a stepparent . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,582 246 4,421 3,355 748 80 1,221

Percentage of children living in a

blended family. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 (X) 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Stepparent only. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23.2 1.3 23.5 25.5 21.7 30.1 19.2
Stepsibling only. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4 0.5 2.0 1.9 3.9 7.5 2.0
Half sibling only. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48.1 1.5 45.8 43.3 56.0 44.6 52.5
Stepparent and stepsibling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.8 0.7 6.6 7.9 4.3 2.7 3.2
Stepparent and half sibling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.5 1.1 17.8 16.7 12.7 10.2 19.7
Stepsibling and half sibling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.4 0.2 0.4 0.5 0.3 – 0.3
Stepparent, stepsibling, and half sibling . . . . 2.2 0.5 2.5 2.5 0.8 – 2.3
One biological parent and one
adoptive parent, and step-, adopted,
or half siblings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.4 0.4 1.4 1.6 0.4 5.4 0.6

Percentage living with a stepparent. . . . . . . . . 47.8 1.5 50.4 52.7 39.4 43.0 44.5

– Represent or rounds to zero.

X Not applicable.
1
Blended families are formed when remarriages occur or when children living in a household share only one or no biological parents. The presence of a
stepparent, stepsibling, or half sibling designates a family as blended.
2
This number, when added to or subtracted from the estimate, represents the 90 percent confidence interval around the estimate.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), 2008 Panel, Wave 2 Topical Module. For information on sampling and
nonsampling error, see <www.census.gov/sipp/sourceac/S&A08_W1toW3(S&A-12).pdf>.

16 U.S. Census Bureau

Table 7. more important factors in creat-
Adopted Children by Race and Hispanic Origin and Living ing living situations where children
Arrangements: 2009 coreside with a half sibling for
(Numbers in thousands) White, non-Hispanic children than
Number for Black or Hispanic children.
Characteristics of children Margin of
Estimate error1 Percent Children in Blended Families
Adopted children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,395 124 100.0
In addition to living with half sib-
RACE AND HISPANIC ORIGIN lings, children live in other types of
White alone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 845 97 60.6 blended families. Blended families
Non-Hispanic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 729 90 52.2
include those that contain step-
Black alone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254 53 18.2
Asian alone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 42 11.7 children and their stepparents, half
Hispanic (any race) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 43 12.0 siblings, or stepsiblings. Blended
families can be formed when
LIVING ARRANGEMENTS
Two parents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,115 111 79.9 couples remarry or live with new
Two adoptive parents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 906 100 64.9 partners who bring children from
One adoptive and one biological . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 45 13.2 previous unions, or who combine
Other (one adoptive and one stepparent) . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 17 1.8
children from previous and current
One parent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280 56 20.1
unions. The complexity of family
Mother only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243 52 17.4
Father only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 20 2.7 arrangements is illustrated in Table 6.
1
This number, when added to or subtracted from the estimate, represents the 90 percent
Overall, 16 percent (11.7 million) of
confidence interval around the estimate. all children lived in blended families.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), 2008 Panel, Wave In 2009, 8.0 million children lived
2 Topical Module. For information on sampling and nonsampling error, see <www.census.gov/sipp
/sourceac/S&A08_W1toW3(S&A-12).pdf>.
with at least one half sibling (Table
5), representing 11 percent of all
children and 68 percent of children
in blended families.
respectively).31 Higher percentages mother had married, since few of Table 6 shows the proportion of
of White, non-Hispanic children living these children lived with their father children who were in blended fami-
with two parents and half siblings, (3 percent). Seventy percent of lies in 2009 by the child’s race and
also had both parents who had expe- White, non-Hispanic children who Hispanic origin.34 Seven percent of
rienced a divorce (24 percent) than lived with a half sibling and just Asian children lived in blended fami-
either Black children (3 percent) or their mother lived with an ever- lies, lower than for any of the other
Hispanic children (10 percent). married mother, compared to 24 race or Hispanic groups. Lower rates
percent of Black children and 50 of births to unmarried women and
The majority of Black and Hispanic
percent of Hispanic children. Higher divorce may contribute to lower
children, 66 percent and 61 percent,
proportions of Black children (75
respectively, had neither parent
percent) and Hispanic children (48
divorced (including couples where
percent) lived with a never- married
neither had ever married) among
mother than White, non-Hispanic
those living with two parents and
children (29 percent). Thirty percent
half siblings.32
of White, non-Hispanic children lived
For children living with one parent with a mother who had been mar-
and half siblings, Table 5 shows ried two or more times, compared 34
Table 5 differs in several ways from
only the number of times their with 5 percent of Black children, Table 4 in the report on “Living Arrangements
of Children: 1996” that it updates. In 2001,
and 8 percent of Hispanic children.33
2004, and 2009, adopted siblings were not
31
Percentages of White, non-Hispanic These differences highlight the fact included with stepsiblings as they were in
children and Black children that lived with two that marriage and remarriage are 1996 and 1991, but were coded separately.
parents that had not divorced and had a half An additional category for children living with
sibling were not significantly different. one biological and one adoptive parent and
32
Percentages of Black children living with 33
Percentages of Black children living siblings who are the child’s step-, adopted, or
two parents, at least one previously divorced, with a mother who had been married two or half sibling is included. Many of these adopted
and half siblings are not significantly different more times are not significantly different children were first the stepchildren of their
from percentages of Hispanic children living from percentages of Hispanic children living adoptive parent, and the adoption took place
with two parents, at least one previously with a mother who had been married two or following the remarriage of the biological
divorced, and half siblings. more times. parent with whom they live.

U.S. Census Bureau 17

 Figure 8.
Children Living in Blended Families by Race and Hispanic Origin
and Number of Parents: 2009

All One parent Two parents

Percent
30

25

20

15

10

0
All White White alone, Black Asian Hispanic
children alone non-Hispanic alone alone (any race)

Note: The category for all children includes those living with no parents.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), 2008 Panel, Wave 2 Topical Module.
For information on sampling and nonsampling error, see <www.census.gov/sipp/sourceac/S&A08_W1toW3(S&A-12).pdf>.

rates of Asian children living in blended families, stepparents were 18 percent of those living with two
blended families.35 more commonly found living with parents were in blended families.
White, non-Hispanic children (53 Percentages are found to be higher
After living with half siblings, living
percent) than with Black children or for children living with two parents
with a stepparent is the next-largest
Hispanic children (39 percent and because of the higher potential for
living arrangement that contributes
45 percent, respectively). This is one of these parents to be a step-
to children living in a blended fam-
expected since White women have parent. Among children living with
ily—8 percent of all children and
been found to remarry more often two parents, Black children had
48 percent of children in blended
than Black or Hispanic women.36 the highest percentage living in a
families lived with a stepparent. In
blended family (28 percent), while
Figure 8 details the percentage of
35
See the National Vital Statistics Reports Asian children had the lowest per-
for data on births and trends in childbearing children living in blended families,
centage (6 percent).
among unmarried women, teenagers, and the by race and number of parents.
general population. For example, see Table A
in Martin, Joyce A. et al., “Births: Preliminary Overall, 16 percent of children lived Adopted Children
Data for 2007,” National Vital Statistics in a blended family—13 percent of
Reports, National Center for Health Statistics,
those living with one parent and The number of adopted children is
Hyattsville, MD, 2010, Vol. 58, No. 24.
For data on divorce by race, see Figure 5 difficult to estimate accurately. The
in the following report: Kreider, Rose M. and 36
Bramlett, Matthew and William Mosher, SIPP estimates rely on the relation-
Renee Ellis, “Number, Timing, and Duration “Cohabitation, Marriage, Divorce, and
of Marriages and Divorces: 2009,” Current Remarriage in the United States,” Vital Health
ships reported by the respondent—
Population Reports, P70-125, U.S. Census Statistics, National Center for Health Statistics, administrative records are not
Bureau, Washington, DC, 2011. 2002, Vol. 23, No. 22.

18 U.S. Census Bureau

 Figure 9.
Children Below the Poverty Level, for Those Living With Mother Only,
by Presence of Grandparents and the Child's Race and Hispanic Origin: 20091

Children living with grandparents Children not living with grandparents

Percent
50

45

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

0
All White White alone, Black Hispanic
races alone non-Hispanic alone (any race)

1
These children do not have a father present in the household.

Note: Base less than 75,000 for Asian alone children, so this group cannot be shown in this figure.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), 2008 Panel, Wave 2 Topical Module.
For information on sampling and nonsampling error, see <www.census.gov/sipp/sourceac/S&A08_W1toW3(S&A-12).pdf>.

used. This collection method could 12 percent lived with one parent. In resulted in an increasing proportion
miss some legalized adoptions and 2009, 80 percent of adopted chil- of ­internationally adopted children
include informal adoptions where dren lived with two parents and 20 who were Asian or Hispanic.38
no legal adoption exists. percent lived with one parent, com-
pared with 27 percent of all children. Children Living With
Because of the small number of Grandparents: Living
While in 1991, 76 percent of adopted
adopted children and potential dif- Arrangements and Poverty
children were White, this decreased
ficulties in counting them accurately Status
to 61 percent in 2009. The percent-
in the SIPP, Table 7 only presents Grandparents play an important role
age of adopted children who were
basic information on adopted chil- in providing care for children—they
Hispanic increased from 6 percent
dren. The number of adopted chil- are the most frequently mentioned
in 1991 to 12 percent in 2009.
dren rose from 1.1 million in 1991 care providers for children under
This shift is due in large part to the
to 1.4 million in 2009.37 In 1991,
increase in international adoption
the majority (88 percent) of adopted
by U.S. citizens that took place from
children lived with two parents and
the mid-1990s through the mid-
2000s. The popularity of adoptions
37
Furukawa, Stacy, “The Diverse Living 38
Selman, Peter, “The Rise and Fall of
Arrangements of Children: Summer 1991,” from China and Guatemala among Intercountry Adoption in the 21st Century,”
Current Population Reports, P70-38, U.S. U.S. parents during this time period International Social Work, 2009, Vol. 52(5),
Census Bureau, Washington, DC, 1994. pp. 575–594.

U.S. Census Bureau 19

Table 8.
Children Below the Poverty Level by Presence of Parents and Grandparents, Race and
Hispanic Origin: 2009
(Numbers in thousands)
All races White
Margin alone,
Living arrangements of children
of White non- Black Asian Hispanic
Estimate error1 alone Hispanic alone alone (any race)
Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74,129 787 56,117 41,503 11,272 2,629 16,347

Children living with at least one grandparent. . . . 7,785 290 4,968 2,932 1,876 380 2,270
Percentage of all children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.5 0.4 8.9 7.1 16.6 14.5 13.9

PRESENCE OF PARENTS
Two parents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,545 167 1,850 979 240 287 934
Grandparent is householder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,024 106 776 430 91 58 387
Mother only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,013 182 1,857 1,139 900 40 824
Grandparent is householder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,312 159 1,379 930 722 26 529
Father only. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397 66 245 159 113 18 110
Grandparent is householder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269 55 188 126 58 6 77
Neither parent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,830 142 1,016 656 623 34 402
Grandparent is householder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,724 138 955 642 595 27 346

PERCENTAGE OF CHILDREN BELOW

THE POVERTY LEVEL
All children. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.9 0.5 17.2 12.7 33.9 12.1 30.9
Two parents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.3 0.5 12.7 8.6 18.0 10.4 25.7
Mother only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38.1 1.2 33.6 28.8 45.9 31.1 44.8
Father only. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.9 2.5 18.0 16.0 30.8 (B) 24.5
Neither parent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.8 2.7 26.8 22.8 33.2 17.9 34.6
Children living with grandparents . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.5 1.6 19.2 17.5 34.0 12.1 23.0
Two parents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.2 2.3 14.4 13.2 20.0 11.1 16.9
Mother only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.5 2.6 20.2 16.1 35.9 12.5 28.0
Father only. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.6 5.5 13.1 18.2 15.0 (B) 9.1
Neither parent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31.2 3.6 27.7 26.2 40.1 (B) 30.6
Children living in grandparent’s household . . . . 25.2 2.0 21.1 19.5 37.1 17.1 24.8
Two parents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.0 4.1 19.7 21.9 23.1 (B) 18.6
Mother only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.4 3.0 18.1 13.9 37.5 (B) 26.5
Father only. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.6 7.4 14.4 21.4 24.1 (B) 7.8
Neither parent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31.5 3.7 27.7 25.7 40.0 (B) 32.9
Children not living with grandparents . . . . . . . . . 19.6 0.5 17.0 12.3 33.9 12.0 32.2
Two parents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.2 0.5 12.6 8.5 17.9 10.2 26.5
Mother only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40.7 1.4 36.5 31.3 47.7 35.5 48.9
Father only. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.1 2.8 18.6 15.8 35.6 (B) 29.1
Neither parent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.8 3.9 25.7 18.9 21.0 (B) 40.9
(B) Base less than 75,000.
1
This number, when added to or subtracted from the estimate, represents the 90 percent confidence interval around the estimate.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation, 2008 Panel, Wave 2 Topical Module. For information on sampling and
nonsampling error, see <www.census.gov/sipp/sourceac/S&A08_W1toW3(S&A-12).pdf>.

20 U.S. Census Bureau

Table 9.
Children Living With Relatives by Type of Relative, and Race and Hispanic Origin: 2009
(Numbers in thousands)
Total Race and Hispanic origin
White
Living arrangements of children Margin alone,
of White non- Black Asian Hispanic
Estimate error1 alone Hispanic alone alone (any race)
Children. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74,129 787 56,117 41,503 11,272 2,629 16,347

Presence of other relatives and nonrelatives2. . . . 15,381 402 10,269 6,109 3,380 611 4,695
Other relatives only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,087 344 7,162 3,936 2,670 532 3,592
Other relatives and nonrelatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . 841 96 546 265 201 15 347
Nonrelatives only. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,453 194 2,561 1,908 509 64 756

SPECIFIC CATEGORY OF RELATIVE3

Living with grandparent(s): . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,785 290 4,968 2,932 1,876 380 2,270
Grandmother and grandfather. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,167 186 2,280 1,392 432 190 954
Grandmother only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,890 206 2,207 1,266 1,290 152 1,105
Grandfather only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 728 90 481 274 154 38 211
Uncle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,577 168 1,809 580 465 114 1,350
Aunt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,312 159 1,480 586 590 87 994
Nephew. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 520 76 348 122 120 17 241
Niece. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 576 80 319 112 168 48 245
Brother-in-law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 33 74 23 11 6 57
Sister-in-law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 35 87 20 13 4 66
All other relatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,296 217 2,673 1,254 1,144 193 1,578
1
This number, when added to or subtracted from the estimate, represents the 90 percent confidence interval around the estimate.
2
The child’s parents, siblings, and children are not included in other relatives.
3
These categories are independent and not mutually exclusive. Relationship listed is to the child, i.e., the child’s grandmother, aunt, etc.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), 2008 Panel, Wave 2 Topical Module. For information on sampling and
nonsampling error, see <www.census.gov/sipp/sourceac/S&A08_W1toW3(S&A-12).pdf>.

age 5 among all types of relatives.39 grandparent. In 2009, 76 percent grandchild as the primary provider
In 2009, 7.8 million children lived of children (6 million) living with a and caretaker of the child.
in households with at least one grandparent were also living with a
Children living with grandparents
grandparent present (11 percent of parent in the household, and 61 per-
more often lived in families in
all children) (Table 8). Seven percent cent of these children (3.6 million)
poverty than children living in
of White, non-Hispanic children, 17 were in a household where their
households with no grandparents
percent of Black children, 14 percent grandparent was the householder.
present (22 percent and 20 percent,
of Asian children, and 14 percent
This characteristic differs by the respectively).41 The association
of Hispanic children lived with a
number of parents. Forty percent between children’s coresidence with
grandparent.40
of children living with a grand- their grandparent and poverty is not
The arrangements when grand- parent and two parents were living simple. A grandchild may live with
parents and grandchildren live in in households maintained by the a grandparent to alleviate financial
the same household vary. The child’s grandparent, while 77 percent of hardship of a parent. Alternatively,
parents are sometimes present and children living with a single mother the grandparent may move in with
the household may be maintained and a grandparent were living in the their child and grandchild if they
either by the child’s parents or grandparent’s household. Among the need assistance. Among children
1.8 million children living in house- living with their grandparents, 14
39
Laughlin, Lynda, “Who’s Minding the holds with grandparents but no par- percent of those living in house-
Kids? Child Care Arrangements: Spring 2005/
Summer 2006,” Current Population Reports, ents present, the grandparent was holds with two parents present were
P70-121, Table 1, U.S. Census Bureau, the householder 94 percent of the in poverty, not statistically different
Washington, DC, 2010.
40
The percentage of Asian children who time. This suggests that the absence
lived with a grandparent was not statistically of one or both parents places the 41
Poverty is calculated for children in
different from the percentage of Black children families by dividing the family’s average
or Hispanic children who lived with grandparent who is living with the monthly income by the family’s average
a grandparent. monthly poverty threshold.

U.S. Census Bureau 21

from the 13 percent of those living Table 10.
with their father only who were in Children Whose Coresident Parent’s Marital Status
poverty. Thirty-one percent of those Changed During 2008
who lived with their grandparents (Numbers in thousands)
when neither parent was present Number
were in poverty. Marital event Margin of
Estimate error1 Percent
Children living with neither parent
Children living with their mother2. . . . . . . . . . . . 68,303 765 100.0
were more often in poverty when Mother had marital event during 20083 . . . . . . . 2,618 170 3.8
they lived with a grandparent (31 Mother married in 2008. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,760 139 2.6
percent) than when they did not (23 First marriage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,236 117 1.8
Married the child’s biological father
percent). Many states allow grand-
and still married. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 955 103 1.4
parents raising grandchildren to Average age of the child (in years) . . . . . . . 4.8 (X) (X)
receive foster care or kinship care Mother divorced in 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 870 98 1.3
Divorce from first marriage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 696 88 1.0
payments. However, some grand-
Mother changed residence in 2008. . . . . . . . 311 59 0.5
parents may be unable to supple- Mother widowed in 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 23 0.1
ment these payments with paid
work if they are elderly or dis- Children living with their father2. . . . . . . . . . . . . 53,578 698 100.0
Father had marital event during 20083 . . . . . . . 2,013 149 3.8
abled. Others might be unaware Father married in 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,685 136 3.1
of the availability of kinship care First marriage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,183 114 2.2
payments. Figure 9 illustrates Married the child’s biological mother
and still married. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 955 103 1.8
that among children living with Average age of the child (in years) . . . . . . . 4.8 (X) (X)
their mother but not their father, Father divorced in 2008. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326 60 0.6
grandparents may offer economic Divorce from first marriage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226 50 0.4
Father changed residence in 2008 . . . . . . . . 86 31 0.2
resources to reduce the proportion Father widowed in 2008. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 20 0.1
of children living in poverty. Overall,
X Not applicable.
25 percent of children living with 1
This number, when added to or subtracted from the estimate, represents the 90 percent confidence
a single mother and a grandpar- interval around the estimate.
ent were in poverty compared with 2
All of the children in the table live with at least one parent—biological, step, or adoptive.
3
More than one marital event may have occurred in the last year, so individual event categories may
41 percent for those living with a add to more than the total. Events happened during calendar year 2008.
single mother and no grandparent. Note: Sufficient data to measure incidence of separation are not available.
This pattern appears for all race Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), 2008 Panel, Wave 2
Topical Module. For information on sampling and nonsampling error, see <www.census.gov/sipp/sourceac/
groups and Hispanics. Variations in
S&A08_W1toW3(S&A-12).pdf>.
the frequency of parents living in
grandparent-grandchild households
by the race of the child illustrate categories are not mutually exclusive. with more specificity. Children were
the different dynamics of extended A child living with a grandmother, an more likely to live with extended
household formation for different uncle, and an aunt is counted sepa- household members who were other
race groups and Hispanics in the rately in each of those categories.42 relatives only (15 percent), rather
United States. The largest group of children living than nonrelatives only (5 percent), or
with an other relative were living with a mixture of relatives and nonrela-
Relatives in Extended Families a grandparent—7.8 million children tives (1 percent). About 9 percent of
were living with one or both grand- White, non-Hispanic children lived
Children may grow up living not
parents. Another 2.6 million children with extended other relatives only,
only with their parents or grand-
lived with their uncle, while 2.3 mil- compared with 24 percent of Black
parents but also with other relatives.
lion lived with their aunt. The cat- children, 20 percent of Asian children,
When relatives other than the egory of other relatives includes more and 22 percent of Hispanic children.43
child’s parents or siblings are living distant relatives. Although compris-
together, this type of family unit is ing 4.3 million children overall, these
called an extended family. responses did not contain enough
cases to allow them to be shown
Table 9 presents data on the different
types of relatives living with children. 42
Among the three subcategories of 43
Asian and Hispanic children living with
The estimates of specific relationship grandparents in Table 9, a child is tabulated in extended other relatives do not significantly
only one of these categories. differ from each other.

22 U.S. Census Bureau

Table 11.
Composition of Households With Children: 2009
(Numbers in thousands)
Households with children under age 18 Percentage of Percentage of
Number households households
Living arrangements of children below the receiving
Margin of poverty public
Estimate error1 Percent level2 assistance
Households with children under age 18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39,694 618 100.0 16.2 45.6

Households containing:
Parent and child present3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38,382 609 96.7 16.0 44.7
No parent and child. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,312 120 3.3 28.7 78.9

Biological parent, biological child present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37,564 603 94.6 16.1 44.8
Stepparent, stepchild present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,685 201 9.3 15.1 52.9
Adoptive parent, adopted child present. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,296 120 3.3 9.6 39.4
Foster parent, foster child present. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 46 0.5 11.5 79.2
Blended household
(stepchild, stepparent, half-sibling or
stepsibling present)4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,287 240 13.3 14.3 54.3
Adoptive household
(adoptive parent, adopted child, or
adopted siblings)5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,475 128 3.7 8.9 42.2
Grandparent-grandchild households. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,444 220 11.2 18.2 72.6
Child, grandparent present, parent(s) present . . . . . . . . . . 3,407 193 8.6 15.9 71.3
Child, grandparent present, no parent(s) present . . . . . . . . 1,037 107 2.6 25.8 77.0
Extended households6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,033 294 20.2 19.8 70.4
Other relatives only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,674 248 14.3 18.7 71.3
Other relatives and nonrelatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358 63 0.9 26.3 83.5
Nonrelatives only. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,001 148 5.0 22.0 65.6
Note: Except for “parent and child present” plus “no parent and child,” percents may add to more than 100 percent since categories are not mutually exclusive.
1
This number, when added to or subtracted from the estimate, represents the 90 percent confidence interval around the estimate.
Based on the poverty status of the householder since using the official family poverty measure would exclude unrelated children. The new supplemental
2

poverty measure will include everyone related to the householder by blood, marriage, or adoption, as well as any cohabiting partner and their relatives. The new
measure will also include any cohabiting partners of those related to the householder, and that cohabiting partner’s relatives.
3
Includes biological, step-, adoptive, and foster parents of children under age 18.
4
These households include a stepparent and stepchild. The stepchild may be any age; however, at least one child under age 18 is in the household.
5
These households include an adoptive parent and adopted child. The adopted child may be any age; however, at least one child under age 18 is in the
household.
6
Extended households include those that contain a child under age 18 who has a relative who is not his or her parent or sibling, or who has a nonrelative
present.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation, 2008 Panel, Wave 2 Topical Module. For information on sampling and
nonsampling error, see <www.census.gov/sipp/sourceac/S&A08_W1toW3(S&A-12).pdf>.

U.S. Census Bureau 23

Children Whose Coresident 14.7 per 1,000 children) and stayed below the poverty level, the per-
Parent’s Marital Status Changed just over one million through 1984, centage for blended households was
in the Last Year when the rate was a bit higher, at lower, at 14 percent. This difference
Because the marital history of a 17.2 per 1,000 children. likely reflects the fact that step-
child’s coresident parents is collected families are often formed by remar-
Table 10 shows an estimated 1.2 mil-
in the SIPP, it is possible to estimate riage, so these households are more
lion children were living with either
the number of children who lived likely to have two parents and two
their mother or father who divorced
with a parent who married, divorced, earners than households with chil-
in calendar year 2008, or a rate of
or was widowed in the last year. dren and biological parents, which
15 per 1,000 children. Seventy-three
Table 10 shows that about 2.6 mil- include single parents.
percent of these children lived with
lion children lived with a mother who
their mother (870,000). Overall, 46 percent of households
experienced a marital event in the
with children received some type of
last year.44 Of these children, 1.8 mil- COMPOSITION OF public assistance.46 A higher per-
lion lived with mothers who married HOUSEHOLDS CONTAINING centage of grandparent-grandchild
in the last year, and for 955,000 of CHILDREN: 2009 households and extended family
these children, their biological father
While most of the tables in this households received public assis-
and mother married each other, and
report are shown from the child’s tance (about 7 in 10).47 Among fam-
both were still living with the child at
point of view, Table 11 shows the ily extended households, 84 percent
the time of the survey.
living arrangements of children at of those that included children
Estimates of the number of children the household level. In 2009, 39.7 living with both other relatives and
whose parents divorced during a million households included chil- nonrelatives received public assis-
year were previously tracked by the dren under age 18: 95 percent had tance compared to households with
National Center for Health Statistics at least one child and his or her other relatives only (71 percent) or
(NCHS) as part of its vital statistics biological parent, 9 percent had at nonrelatives only (66 percent).48
program. For years, NCHS has not least one child and his or her step-
received information from enough parent, and 3 percent had at least SOURCE OF THE DATA
states to make these estimates. one child and his or her adoptive The population represented (the
Previous NCHS data estimated that parent. These categories are not population universe) in the 2008
the number of children affected mutually exclusive. For example, SIPP is the civilian noninstitutional-
by divorce had grown since 1950. households can have children with ized population living in the United
Divorce rates increased in the late both a biological parent and a States. The SIPP is a longitudinal sur-
1970s and into the 1980s and subse- stepparent. There were 5.3 million vey conducted at 4-month intervals.
quently leveled off in the late 1980s households with blended families The data in this report were collected
and into the 1990s.45 An estimated and 1.5 million households with from January through April 2009 in
299,000 children were involved in adoptive families. Eleven percent of the second wave (interview) of the
the divorces finalized in 1950, or a households with children under age 2008 SIPP. The data come primarily
rate of 6.3 per 1,000 children. This 18 (4.4 million) had grandparents from the main survey and the house-
number increased to a little over 1 and grandchildren present, with hold relationship topical module. The
million children by 1972 (at a rate of 77 percent of these composed of a
child, his or her parent(s), and the 46
Cash and noncash public assistance
44
The number of children experiencing child’s grandparent(s). An additional are included. Noncash benefits include food
their mother’s or father’s marriage in the last 23 percent, or 1.0 million, included stamps; the Special Supplemental Nutrition
year is not exactly equal due to the fact that Program for Women, Infants, and Children;
if the couple had separated by the time of the a child and at least one grandparent Medicaid; rent for public housing; lower
interview and the child is not currently living but not the child’s parents. About rent due to government subsidy; energy
with both their mother and father, they will assistance; and free or reduced-price lunches
not appear in both estimates. Marital events 1 in 5 households with children or breakfasts.
happened during calendar year 2008. included nonrelatives or relatives 47
Extended households include those that
45
London, Kathryn A., “Children of contain a child under 18 years old who has a
Divorce,” Vital Health Statistics, National of the child other than his or her relative present who is not his or her parent or
Center for Health Statistics, Washington, DC, parents or siblings. sibling, or who has a nonrelative present.
U.S. Government Printing Office, 1989, Series 48
The overall percentage of extended
21, No. 46, DHHS Pub. No. (PHS) 89-1924. households receiving public assistance was
Goldstein, Joshua R., “The Leveling of
While 16 percent of all households not significantly different than the percentage
Divorce in the United States,” Demography, with a child under age 18 were of extended households with other relatives
1999, Vol. 36, pp. 409–414. only receiving public assistance.

24 U.S. Census Bureau

institutionalized population, which ACCURACY OF THE DATA For further information on statistical
is excluded from the population standards and the computation and
Statistics from surveys are subject to
universe, is composed primarily of use of standard errors, go to
sampling and nonsampling error. All
the population in correctional institu- <www.census.gov/apsd/techdoc/cps
comparisons presented in this report
tions and nursing homes (91 percent /cps-main.html> for CPS; for SIPP, go
have taken sampling error into
of the 4.1 million institutionalized to <www.census.gov/sipp
account and are significant at the
people in Census 2000). /sourceac/S&A08_W1toW3(S&A-12)
90 percent confidence level unless
.pdf>; or e-mail Stephen Mack of
Although the main focus of the SIPP otherwise noted. This means the 90
the Census Bureau’s Demographic
is information on labor force partici- percent confidence interval for the
Statistical Methods Division at
pation, jobs, income, and participa- difference between the estimates
<[email protected]>.
tion in federal assistance programs, being compared does not include
information on other topics is also zero. Nonsampling errors in surveys Additional information on the SIPP
collected in topical modules on a may be attributed to a variety of can be found at the following Web
rotating basis. sources, such as how the survey was sites: <www.census.gov/sipp/>
designed, how respondents inter- (main SIPP Web site), <www.census
The population represented (the
pret questions, how able and willing .gov/sipp/workpapr/wp230.pdf>
population universe) in the Annual
respondents are to provide correct (SIPP Quality Profile), and
Social and Economic Supplement
answers, and how accurately the <www.census.gov/sipp/usrguide
(ASEC) is the civilian noninstitutional-
answers are coded and classified. .html> (SIPP User’s Guide).
ized population living in the United
The Census Bureau employs quality
States. Members of the Armed Forces MORE INFORMATION
control procedures throughout the
living off-post or with their families
production process, including the
on-post are included if at least one A copy of this report, along with
overall design of surveys, the word-
civilian adult lives in the household. additional tables, is available on the
ing of questions, the review of the
The institutionalized population, Census Bureau’s Web site at
work of interviewers and coders, and
which is excluded from the popula- <www.census.gov>. Data about
the statistical review of reports to
tion universe, is composed primar- children can be accessed by click-
minimize these errors.
ily of the population in correctional ing on the “C” in the “Subjects A–Z”
institutions and nursing homes (91 The CPS and SIPP weighting proce- index and selecting “Children.” The
percent of the 4.1 million institu- dures use ratio estimation, whereby previous reports based on 2004,
tionalized people in Census 2000). sample estimates are adjusted 2001, 1996, and 1991 data are also
Most of the data from the ASEC were to independent estimates of the available at this site.
collected in March (with some data national population by age, race,
collected in February and April). sex, and Hispanic origin. This CONTACTS
weighting partially corrects for bias Contact the Census Bureau’s
The Census data 1880–1940: Inte-
due to undercoverage, but biases Customer Services Center at
grated Public-Use Microdata Series:
may still be present when people 800-923-8282 (toll-free) or visit
Version 2.0 one percent microdata
who are missed by the survey <ask.census.gov> for further
files were made available by the
differ from those interviewed in information.
Historical Census Projects. For
ways other than age, race, sex, and
further information on the Census
Hispanic origin. How this weighting SUGGESTED CITATION
data, see <http://usa.ipums.org
procedure affects other variables in Kreider, Rose M. and Renee Ellis,
/usa/design.shtml>.
the survey is not precisely known. “Living Arrangements of Children:
All of these considerations affect 2009,” Current Population Reports,
comparisons across different surveys P70-126, U.S. Census Bureau,
or data sources. Washington, DC, 2011.

U.S. Census Bureau 25

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