For more than 30 years, the percentage of children in the United States who live with two married parents has declined. In 1971, 83 percent of children under 18 lived with two married parents, while in 2006, this figure had declined to 67 percent. Correspondingly, the percentage of children living with one parent has risen from 13 percent in 1971 to 28 percent in 2006.1 But is this the whole story?

Family demographers have noted that over time, more unmarried partner households have formed, many of which have children. Before surveys had a direct measure of cohabitation, it was estimated using the POSSLQ–persons of opposite sex sharing living quarters–which included households in which the householder lived with another unmarried adult of the opposite sex. Using this indirect estimation method, about 28 percent of the 1.8 million POSSLQ households in 1981 had a child under 15 present, while 34 percent of the 5.4 million POSSLQ households in 2006 had children under 15 present.

So, many children previously counted as living with single parents may have actually lived with another parent or adult. However, most large nationally representative data sets have not had direct and detailed measures documenting this trend. Consequently, there is a need to better understand whether children live with 1) Two parents; 2) One parent and their parents’ cohabiting partner or another adult; or 3) Alone with one parent. Studies suggest that children may benefit from the resources that other adults contribute to a household.

This poster looks at detailed living arrangements of children living with unmarried parents to
understand who they are and how their well-being compares with children living with married
parents.