Estimates on America’s Families and Living Arrangements

The U.S. Census Bureau released estimates showing there were 10.9 million one-parent family groups with a child under the age of 18 in 2022. Data from the annual release of America’s Families and Living Arrangements also show that 80% of one-parent family groups were maintained by a mother.

The marital history of the parent who maintained one-parent family groups differed for fathers and mothers in 2022. Among one-parent family groups, 41% of single fathers were never married and 38% were divorced, compared to 51% of single mothers who were never married and 29% who were divorced.
Marital Status of One-Parent Family Groups: 2022

About 44% of one-parent family groups had two or more of their own children under age 18 in the household. Two-thirds (67%) of one-parent family groups had at least one child under 12 years old and 51% had at least one child between the ages of 12 and 17 living with them.

Other Highlights

Households:

• There were 37.9 million one-person households, 29% of all U.S. households in 2022. In 1960, single-person households represented only 13% of all households.
• Families: The percentage of U.S. families with their own children under 18 in the household declined from 2002 to 2022. In 2002, 48% of all families lived with their own children under 18, compared to 43% in 2012 and 40% in 2022.

Marriage:

• In 2022, 34% of people ages 15 and over had never been married, up from 23% in 1950.
• The estimated median age to marry in 2022 for the first time was 30.1 for men and 28.2 for women, up from ages 23.7 and 20.5, respectively, in 1947.
• Less than one quarter (24%) of children under age 15 living in opposite-sex married-couple families had a stay-at-home mother, compared to only 1% with a stay-at-home father in 2022.

Living Arrangements:

• More than half (56%) of adults ages 18 to 24 lived in their parental home, compared to 16% of adults ages 25 to 34 in 2022.