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.

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 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.

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 Orange County, CA (S1101SPHOUSE006059) from 2009 to 2023 about Orange County, CA; single-parent; Los Angeles; 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 Oklahoma County, OK (S1101SPHOUSE040109) from 2009 to 2023 about Oklahoma County, OK; Oklahoma City; single-parent; OK; households; 5-year; and USA.

In 2022, there were about 4.15 million Black families in the United States with a single mother. This is an increase from 1990 levels, when there were about 3.4 million Black families with a single mother.

Single parenthood

The typical family is comprised of two parents and at least one child. However, that is not the case in every single situation. A single parent is someone who has a child but no spouse or partner. Single parenthood occurs for different reasons, including divorce, death, abandonment, or single-person adoption. Historically, single parenthood was common due to mortality rates due to war, diseases, and maternal mortality. However, divorce was not as common back then, depending on the culture.

Single parent wellbeing

In countries where social welfare programs are not strong, single parents tend to suffer more financially, emotionally, and mentally. In the United States, most single parents are mothers. The struggles that single parents face are greater than those in two parent households. The number of families with a single mother in the United States has increased since 1990, but the poverty rate of black families with a single mother has significantly decreased since that same year. In comparison, the poverty rate of Asian families with a single mother, and the percentage of white, non-Hispanic families with a single mother who live below the poverty level in the United States have both been fluctuating since 2002.

Graph and download economic data for Single-Parent Households with Children as a Percentage of Households with Children (5-year estimate) in Genesee County, MI (S1101SPHOUSE026049) from 2009 to 2023 about Genesee County, MI; Flint; single-parent; MI; households; 5-year; and USA.

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.

Single-Parent Households with Children as a Percentage of Households with Children (5-year estimate) in Luzerne County, PA was 44.52% in January of 2023, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, Single-Parent Households with Children as a Percentage of Households with Children (5-year estimate) in Luzerne County, PA reached a record high of 44.52 in January of 2023 and a record low of 30.98 in January of 2009. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Single-Parent Households with Children as a Percentage of Households with Children (5-year estimate) in Luzerne County, PA - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on March of 2025.

Graph and download economic data for Single-Parent Households with Children as a Percentage of Households with Children (5-year estimate) in Delaware County, PA (S1101SPHOUSE042045) from 2009 to 2023 about Delaware County, PA; Philadelphia; single-parent; PA; 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 East Baton Rouge Parish, LA (S1101SPHOUSE022033) from 2009 to 2023 about East Baton Rouge Parish, LA; Baton Rouge; single-parent; LA; households; 5-year; and USA.

In 2023, about 3.52 million Hispanic families with a single mother were living in the United States. This is an increase from 1990, when there were about 1.19 million Hispanic families with a single mother in the U.S.

In 1990, 48.1 percent of all Black families with a single mother in the United States lived below the poverty level. In 2023, that figure had decreased to 25.9 percent. This is significantly higher than white households with a single mother. 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.

This layer shows children by nativity of parents by age group. This is shown by tract, county, and state centroids. This service is updated annually to contain the most currently released American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year data, and contains estimates and margins of error. There are also additional calculated attributes related to this topic, which can be mapped or used within analysis. This layer is symbolized to show the count and percentage of children who are in immigrant families (children who are foreign born or live with at least one parent who is foreign born). To see the full list of attributes available in this service, go to the "Data" tab, and choose "Fields" at the top right. Current Vintage: 2019-2023ACS Table(s): B05009Data downloaded from: Census Bureau's API for American Community Survey Date of API call: December 12, 2024National Figures: data.census.govThe United States Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS):About the SurveyGeography & ACSTechnical DocumentationNews & UpdatesThis ready-to-use layer can be used within ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Online, its configurable apps, dashboards, Story Maps, custom apps, and mobile apps. Data can also be exported for offline workflows. For more information about ACS layers, visit the FAQ. Please cite the Census and ACS when using this data.Data Note from the Census:Data are based on a sample and are subject to sampling variability. The degree of uncertainty for an estimate arising from sampling variability is represented through the use of a margin of error. The value shown here is the 90 percent margin of error. The margin of error can be interpreted as providing a 90 percent probability that the interval defined by the estimate minus the margin of error and the estimate plus the margin of error (the lower and upper confidence bounds) contains the true value. In addition to sampling variability, the ACS estimates are subject to nonsampling error (for a discussion of nonsampling variability, see Accuracy of the Data). The effect of nonsampling error is not represented in these tables.Data Processing Notes:This layer is updated automatically when the most current vintage of ACS data is released each year, usually in December. The layer always contains the latest available ACS 5-year estimates. It is updated annually within days of the Census Bureau's release schedule. Click here to learn more about ACS data releases.Boundaries come from the US Census TIGER geodatabases, specifically, the National Sub-State Geography Database (named tlgdb_(year)_a_us_substategeo.gdb). Boundaries are updated at the same time as the data updates (annually), and the boundary vintage appropriately matches the data vintage as specified by the Census. These are Census boundaries with water and/or coastlines erased for cartographic and mapping purposes. For census tracts, the water cutouts are derived from a subset of the 2020 Areal Hydrography boundaries offered by TIGER. Water bodies and rivers which are 50 million square meters or larger (mid to large sized water bodies) are erased from the tract level boundaries, as well as additional important features. For state and county boundaries, the water and coastlines are derived from the coastlines of the 2023 500k TIGER Cartographic Boundary Shapefiles. These are erased to more accurately portray the coastlines and Great Lakes. The original AWATER and ALAND fields are still available as attributes within the data table (units are square meters). The States layer contains 52 records - all US states, Washington D.C., and Puerto RicoCensus tracts with no population that occur in areas of water, such as oceans, are removed from this data service (Census Tracts beginning with 99).Percentages and derived counts, and associated margins of error, are calculated values (that can be identified by the "_calc_" stub in the field name), and abide by the specifications defined by the American Community Survey.Field alias names were created based on the Table Shells file available from the American Community Survey Summary File Documentation page.Negative values (e.g., -4444...) have been set to null, with the exception of -5555... which has been set to zero. These negative values exist in the raw API data to indicate the following situations:The margin of error column indicates that either no sample observations or too few sample observations were available to compute a standard error and thus the margin of error. A statistical test is not appropriate.Either no sample observations or too few sample observations were available to compute an estimate, or a ratio of medians cannot be calculated because one or both of the median estimates falls in the lowest interval or upper interval of an open-ended distribution.The median falls in the lowest interval of an open-ended distribution, or in the upper interval of an open-ended distribution. A statistical test is not appropriate.The estimate is controlled. A statistical test for sampling variability is not appropriate.The data for this geographic area cannot be displayed because the number of sample cases is too small.

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.

This layer contains 2010-2014 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year data, and contains estimates and margins of error. The layer shows children by nativity of parents by age group. This is shown by tract, county, and state boundaries. There are also additional calculated attributes related to this topic, which can be mapped or used within analysis. This layer is symbolized to show the percentage of children who are in immigrant families (children who are foreign born or live with at least one parent who is foreign born). To see the full list of attributes available in this service, go to the "Data" tab, and choose "Fields" at the top right. Vintage: 2010-2014ACS Table(s): B05009 Data downloaded from: Census Bureau's API for American Community Survey Date of API call: November 11, 2020National Figures: data.census.govThe United States Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS):About the SurveyGeography & ACSTechnical DocumentationNews & UpdatesThis ready-to-use layer can be used within ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Online, its configurable apps, dashboards, Story Maps, custom apps, and mobile apps. Data can also be exported for offline workflows. For more information about ACS layers, visit the FAQ. Please cite the Census and ACS when using this data.Data Note from the Census:Data are based on a sample and are subject to sampling variability. The degree of uncertainty for an estimate arising from sampling variability is represented through the use of a margin of error. The value shown here is the 90 percent margin of error. The margin of error can be interpreted as providing a 90 percent probability that the interval defined by the estimate minus the margin of error and the estimate plus the margin of error (the lower and upper confidence bounds) contains the true value. In addition to sampling variability, the ACS estimates are subject to nonsampling error (for a discussion of nonsampling variability, see Accuracy of the Data). The effect of nonsampling error is not represented in these tables.Data Processing Notes:This layer has associated layers containing the most recent ACS data available by the U.S. Census Bureau. Click here to learn more about ACS data releases and click here for the associated boundaries layer. The reason this data is 5+ years different from the most recent vintage is due to the overlapping of survey years. It is recommended by the U.S. Census Bureau to compare non-overlapping datasets.Boundaries come from the US Census TIGER geodatabases. Boundary vintage (2014) appropriately matches the data vintage as specified by the Census. These are Census boundaries with water and/or coastlines clipped for cartographic purposes. For census tracts, the water cutouts are derived from a subset of the 2010 AWATER (Area Water) boundaries offered by TIGER. For state and county boundaries, the water and coastlines are derived from the coastlines of the 500k TIGER Cartographic Boundary Shapefiles. The original AWATER and ALAND fields are still available as attributes within the data table (units are square meters). The States layer contains 52 records - all US states, Washington D.C., and Puerto RicoCensus tracts with no population that occur in areas of water, such as oceans, are removed from this data service (Census Tracts beginning with 99).Percentages and derived counts, and associated margins of error, are calculated values (that can be identified by the "_calc_" stub in the field name), and abide by the specifications defined by the American Community Survey.Field alias names were created based on the Table Shells file available from the American Community Survey Summary File Documentation page.Negative values (e.g., -4444...) have been set to null, with the exception of -5555... which has been set to zero. These negative values exist in the raw API data to indicate the following situations:The margin of error column indicates that either no sample observations or too few sample observations were available to compute a standard error and thus the margin of error. A statistical test is not appropriate.Either no sample observations or too few sample observations were available to compute an estimate, or a ratio of medians cannot be calculated because one or both of the median estimates falls in the lowest interval or upper interval of an open-ended distribution.The median falls in the lowest interval of an open-ended distribution, or in the upper interval of an open-ended distribution. A statistical test is not appropriate.The estimate is controlled. A statistical test for sampling variability is not appropriate.The data for this geographic area cannot be displayed because the number of sample cases is too small.

Abstract

The Armenian Household Budget Survey (HBS) 1996 was designed to be a nationally representative survey capable of measuring the standard of living in the Republic of Armenia (ROA) through the collection of data on the family, demographic, socio-economic and financial status of households. The survey was conducted in November - December 1996, on the whole territory of the republic by the State Department of Statistics (SDS) of ROA with technical and financial assistance from the World Bank.

The data collected included information on household composition, housing conditions, education level of household members, employment and income, savings, borrowing, as well as details on levels of expenditure including those on food, non-food, health, tourism and business. The survey covered about 100 villages and 28 towns. The size of the sample was 5,040 households of which 4,920 responded which makes the survey the largest carried out in Armenia to date and one with a very high response rate for a transition economy. The expenditure part of the data was collected using two different methods administered for different households. The methods are: recall method in which households were asked, during the interview, about their expenditures made during the last 30 days preceding the date of the interview; and a diary method where households were given a diary they used to record details about their income and expenditure on a daily basis for 30 days during the interview period. About 25% of the total sample of interviewed households used diaries and 75% used the recall method. The unit of study in the survey was the household, defined as a group of co-resident individuals with a common living budget. As will be explained in detail, the AHBS 96 was generally designed as a two stage stratified sampling, but for large urban areas with an almost definite probability of being selected, a one stage sampling was adopted.

The Armenian HBS 1996 is not a standard Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS) survey - the questionnaire used is more limited in scope and much different in format from a typical LSMS. This survey used no community or price questionnaires; it did not use most of LSMS’ prototypical fieldwork and data quality procedures, and the technical assistance did not come from the LSMS group in the World Bank. Nonetheless, the goals are some what LSMS-like and the data is certainly worth archiving. They are therefore being entered into the LSMS archives to guarantee their future accessibility to World Bank and other users.

Geographic coverage

National

Analysis unit

• Households
• Individuals

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The State Department of Statistics specified 3 domains of interest for this study. These are Yerevan (the capital of ROA), Other Urban areas and Rural areas. Recent estimates of earthquake zones assigned almost equal populations to these domain zones of interest, and as a result there was no need for special targeting and no particular reason was implied for departing from a proportionate (or self-weighting) design.

A self-weighting sample was derived by selecting Primary Sampling Units (PSUs) with probability proportional to their size (where size is defined as the number of households) and then taking a constant number of households from each selected. The sample, therefore, was designed to be self-weighted and representative at the administrative regions (Marzes) level, for urban and rural areas, and within urban areas by the size of cities, and in rural areas by elevation. The number of households to be selected in each PSU was 20, so 250 PSUs were required to make up 5000 households.

Note: See detailed sample design and sample implementation information in the technical document, which is provided in this documentation.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The Armenia HBS 96 questionnaire was designed to collect information on several aspects of household behavior -- demographic composition, housing, health, consumption expenditures as well as income by source and employment. Information was collected about all the household members, not just about the head of the household alone.

Household Questionnaire

The main household questionnaire used in Armenia HBS 96 contained 13 sections, each of which covered a separate aspect of household activity. The various sections of the household questionnaire are described below followed by a brief description of the diary used to record the daily income and expenditure activities of participating households. All households completed sections A through J, L, and M. Households selected to receive the recall method for expenditures completed section K as well; the remainder filled out the diary instead of being interviewed for section K.

A . FAMILY CHARACTERISTICS AND HOUSING: This section collected basic demographic data such as name, age, sex, education, health, marital status and economic status of everyone living in the household, number of people in the household, etc. In addition, information collected included data on the type of educational institutions attended (private/public), special groups (disabled, single parents, orphan...), dwelling amenities and conditions of the household such as type of dwelling (apartment, house, hostel...) and available facilities (electricity, hot water, telephone...)

B. INCOME FROM EMPLOYMENT: This section collected information on income from employment, type of industry each household member is engaged in, type of ownership of the organization where each person works, salary and other cash payments received, employment subsidies in terms of services (e.g. transport and health ). The recall period covers the 30 days prior to the interview date.

C. INCOME FROM SELF EMPLOYMENT: This section collected information about self-employed persons, their income from selfemployment, costs of equipment and raw materials owned by their business, sector in which the individual is self-employed, etc. The recall period covers 30 days prior to the interview.

D. STATE BENEFITS: This section included information on entitlements and receipt of state benefits such as pension, disability, child benefit, unemployment benefit, single-mother benefit, etc. during the last 30 days preceding the date of the interview.

E. OTHER CASH INCOMES: Included in this section are approximate values of the various types of cash incomes such as those from sale of property, valuables, alimony, rent from properties, dividends and interest, help from relatives, etc. the household received during the last 30 days preceding the date of the interview.

F. AID (ASSISTANCE): This section included information on whether food and non-food (e.g. medical help) assistance were received by the household in forms other than cash from friends, relatives, humanitarian organizations, etc. and the values of such assistance received during the last 30 days preceding the date of the interview.

G. SAVINGS, ASSETS AND LOANS: This section collected information on savings, assets and loans made by the household to others, amount of borrowing from others, and the associated interest rates during the past 30 days.

H. GENERAL ECONOMIC SITUATION: This section collected information about the current economic situation as perceived by the household, how it changed over the past 90 days and the household’s future expectations over the next 90 days.

I. LAND OWNERSHIP AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE: This section collected information on the amount of land owned by the household in hectares, each crop type harvested and consumed, crop in storage for own household use, home produced food such as diary products, milk, eggs, etc. and animal stock. The recall period for this section generally is the current year, but for the value of household consumption, and crops sold in the market, it uses a recall period of the past 30 days.

J. FOOD IN STOCK (RESERVES): This section collected data on the amount of food in stock the household currently has such as bread, meat, cereals vegetables, etc.

K. EXPENDITURE FOR 30 DAYS (RECALL METHOD): This section collected expenditure information for the last 30 days on food purchases by item; clothing and foot wear for adults; children’s clothes; fabrics; household furniture, cars, carpets, and electrical appliances; household consumables such as soap and stationary; building materials, bathroom appliances and household tools; household utensils; household services; utilities; leisure activities; health; transport; education; domestic animals; land; tourism; and business activities.

L. EMIGRATION: This section collected information on whether anybody in the household worked outside Armenia for more than three months over the past five years; if the emigrating household member is still abroad and his/her final destination country.

M. "PAROS" social program:2 This section collected information on whether the household is in the PAROS program and points the family has in the PAROS system in their social passport.

Z. GUESTS AND EATING OUT This section collected information on how many people ate in the household during the 30 days prior to the interview, how many times the household invited guests for dinner; and was invited; amount of food given to friends and relatives by the household. The codes for these variables are available in the data dictionary.

Diary Questionnaire

The diary questionnaire was used to collect daily income and expenditure activities of the participating households for 30 consecutive days during the interview period. It was administered to 25% of the households in the sample who also completed sections A through J, L and M from the

In 2023, there were about 1.18 million Black families with a single father living in the United States. This is an increase from 1990, when there were 472,000 Black families with a single father in the U.S.

The 1991 Census Expanded Community Profiles present 44 tables comprising more detailed information than that of the basic community profiles which provide characteristics of persons and/or dwellings for Statistical Local Areas (SLA) in Australia. This table contains data relating to family type by labour force status (part-time/full-time) of parent(s)/partners by annual family income. Counts are of one and two parent families, and couples without offspring, based on place of enumeration on census night which; includes overseas visitors; excludes Australians overseas; and excludes adjustment for under-enumeration. The data is by SLA 1991 boundaries. Periodicity: 5-Yearly. This data is ABS data (cat. no. 2101.0 & original geographic boundary cat. no. 1261.0.30.001) used with permission from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The tabular data was processed and supplied to AURIN by the Australian Data Archives. The cleaned, high resolution 1991 geographic boundaries are available from data.gov.au. For more information please refer to the 1991 Census Dictionary. Please note: (a) Full time is defined as having worked 35 hours or more in the main job held last week. (b) Comprises families where at least one, but not all, member(s) aged 15 years or more did not state an income and/or at least one spouse or offspring was temporarily absent. (c) Comprises families where no members presentstated an income. (d) Comprises families where the sole parent or both parents/partners in the couple were unemployed or not in the labour force. (e) Comprises families where one parent/partner was employed and stated his/her hours worked and the other parent/partner was either unemployed or not in the labour force. (f) Comprises families where one or both parents/partners did not state his/her labour force status and/or hours worked or a parent/partner was temporarily absent.