In 2023, there were around 15.18 million families with a female householder and no spouse present in the United States, an increase from the previous year. You can get an overview on the total number of households in the U.S. here.

In 2023, there were about 15.09 million children living with a single mother in the United States, and about 3.05 million children living with a single father. The number of children living with a single mother is down from its peak in 2012, and the number of children living with a single father is down from its peak in 2005.

Marriage and divorce in the United States

Despite popular opinion in the United States that “half of all marriages end in divorce,” the divorce rate in the U.S. has fallen significantly since 1992. The marriage rate, which has also been decreasing since the 1990s, was still higher than the divorce rate in 2021. Half of all marriages may not end in divorce, but it does seem that fewer people are choosing to get married in the first place.

New family structures

In addition to a falling marriage rate, fewer people in the U.S. have children under the age of 18 living in the house in comparison to 1970. Over the past decade, the share of families with children under 18, whether that be married couples or single parents, has stayed mostly steady, although the number of births in the U.S. has also fallen.

This graph shows the Percentage of households led by a female householder with no spouse present with own children under 18 years living in the household in the U.S. in 2021, by state. In 2021, about 4.24 percent of Californian households were single mother households with at least one child.

Additional information on single mother households and poverty in the United States

For most single mothers a constant battle persists between finding the time and energy to raise their children and the demands of working to supply an income to house and feed their families. The pressures of a single income and the high costs of childcare mean that the risk of poverty for these families is a tragic reality. Comparison of the overall United States poverty rate since 1990 with that of the poverty rate for families with a female householder shows that poverty is much more prevalent in the latter. In 2021, while the overall rate was at 11.6 percent, the rate of poverty for single mother families was 23 percent. Moreover, the degree of fluctuation tends to be lower for single female household families, suggesting the rate of poverty for these groups is less affected by economic conditions.

The sharp rise in the number of children living with a single mother or single father in the United States from 1970 to 2022 suggests more must be done to ensure that families in such situations are able to avoid poverty. Moreover, attention should also be placed on overall racial income inequality given the higher rate of poverty for Hispanic single mother families than their white or Asian counterparts.

Graph and download economic data for Single-Parent Households with Children as a Percentage of Households with Children (5-year estimate) in St. Louis city, MO (S1101SPHOUSE029510) from 2009 to 2023 about St. Louis City, MO; St. Louis; single-parent; MO; households; 5-year; and USA.

In 2023, there were about 6.65 million white, non-Hispanic families with a single mother living in the United States. This is a slight increase from 1990, when there were 6.4 million white families with a single mother living in the U.S.

Graph and download economic data for Single-Parent Households with Children as a Percentage of Households with Children (5-year estimate) in Mobile County, AL (S1101SPHOUSE001097) from 2009 to 2023 about Mobile County, AL; Mobile; single-parent; AL; households; 5-year; and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Single-Parent Households with Children as a Percentage of Households with Children (5-year estimate) in San Francisco County, CA (S1101SPHOUSE006075) from 2009 to 2023 about San Francisco County/City, CA; San Francisco; single-parent; CA; households; 5-year; and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Single-Parent Households with Children as a Percentage of Households with Children (5-year estimate) in Orange County, CA (S1101SPHOUSE006059) from 2009 to 2023 about Orange County, CA; single-parent; Los Angeles; CA; households; 5-year; and USA.

This statistic shows the 50 metropolitan areas with the highest percentage of female-headed family households in the United States in 2019. The McAllen-Edinburg-Mission metropolitan area, located on the Texas-Mexico border, was ranked first with 22.08 percent of households led by single mothers in 2019.

Graph and download economic data for Single-Parent Households with Children as a Percentage of Households with Children (5-year estimate) in Cook County, IL (S1101SPHOUSE017031) from 2009 to 2023 about Cook County, IL; single-parent; Chicago; IL; households; 5-year; and USA.

In 2023, 16.7 percent of white, non-Hispanic families with a single mother were living below the poverty level in the United States. Poverty is the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing, and shelter.

Graph and download economic data for Single-Parent Households with Children as a Percentage of Households with Children (5-year estimate) in Wayne County, MI (S1101SPHOUSE026163) from 2009 to 2023 about Wayne County, MI; Detroit; single-parent; MI; households; 5-year; and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Single-Parent Households with Children as a Percentage of Households with Children (5-year estimate) in Austin County, TX (S1101SPHOUSE048015) from 2009 to 2023 about Austin County, TX; Houston; single-parent; households; TX; 5-year; and USA.

In 2022, over 3.8 million children living with single mothers who never married were receiving food stamps in the U.S. Additionally, 1.4 million children living with divorced single mothers were receiving food stamps.

Graph and download economic data for Single-Parent Households with Children as a Percentage of Households with Children (5-year estimate) in Buncombe County, NC (S1101SPHOUSE037021) from 2009 to 2023 about Buncombe County, NC; Asheville; single-parent; NC; households; 5-year; and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Single-Parent Households with Children as a Percentage of Households with Children (5-year estimate) in El Paso County, TX (S1101SPHOUSE048141) from 2009 to 2023 about El Paso County, TX; El Paso; single-parent; households; TX; 5-year; and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Single-Parent Households with Children as a Percentage of Households with Children (5-year estimate) in Franklin County, OH (S1101SPHOUSE039049) from 2009 to 2023 about Franklin County, OH; Columbus; single-parent; OH; households; 5-year; and USA.

In 2021, roughly 743,000 children living with single mothers who never married were receiving public assistance in the U.S. Comparatively, there were around 13,000 children of widowed mothers receiving public assistance.

Graph and download economic data for Single-Parent Households with Children as a Percentage of Households with Children (5-year estimate) in New York County, NY (S1101SPHOUSE036061) from 2009 to 2023 about New York County, NY; single-parent; New York; NY; households; 5-year; and USA.

In 2023, 27.4 percent of Hispanic families with a single mother were living below the poverty level in the United States. While this poverty rate has dropped significantly since the 1990's, it is still much higher than white, non-Hispanic single mother households.Poverty is the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter.