More Kids Lived in Single-Parent Families in 2013

In 2013, 35% of U.S. chil­dren (24.6 mil­lion) lived in sin­gle-par­ent fam­i­lies. While there was lit­tle change in this indi­ca­tor from the pre­vi­ous year, the per­cent­age of chil­dren liv­ing in these house­holds has increased by 13% (approx­i­mate­ly 4 mil­lion more chil­dren) since 2000. Three-fourths of these fam­i­lies are head­ed by mothers.

Chil­dren grow­ing up in sin­gle-par­ent fam­i­lies typ­i­cal­ly have access to few­er eco­nom­ic resources than their peers in two-par­ent fam­i­lies. In 2013, 37% of sin­gle-par­ent fam­i­lies had incomes below the pover­ty line, com­pared with 9% of mar­ried cou­ples with children.

New fam­i­ly struc­ture data avail­able for the nation, states, the Dis­trict of Colum­bia and the 50 largest U.S. cities:

• Child pop­u­la­tion by house­hold type 
• Chil­dren in sin­gle-par­ent families
• Fam­i­lies with relat­ed chil­dren who are below pover­ty by fam­i­ly type
• Chil­dren liv­ing with cohab­it­ing domes­tic partners
• Grand­chil­dren in the care of grandparent