Single-Mother Households
Children residing in single-mother households have the highest rate of poverty. In 2005-2007, 49% of rural children in single-mother households lived in poverty compared to 42% of urban children in single-mother households.
As part of the Carsey Institute’s Policy Brief series, this summary highlights key findings from an analysis of Census data about family structure between 1995 and 2006. While the number of couples living together had increased over other family structures during this period, the number of children residing in cohabiting households grew the most in rural areas. The summary also provides information about other forms of family structure and the demographic characteristics of families with children.
The proportion of rural children living in cohabiting households has nearly doubled since 2000. In contrast, the percentage of urban children living in a cohabiting household only rose slightly during the same time period. The data also shows that the proportion of rural children living in a married household declined during this period.