About Half of Kids With Single Moms Live in Poverty

Article link:http://m.us.wsj.com/articles/BL-REB-21678

Children raised in single-parent households in the U.S. are far more likely to live in poverty than children with both parents present, according to Census figures released Monday. As a result, far more black and Hispanic children are raised in poverty than white kids.

Bloomberg News

Among all children living only with their mother, nearly half — or 45% — live below the poverty line, the Census Bureau said. For those living with just the father, about 21% lived in poverty. By comparison, only about 13% of children with both parents present in the household live below the poverty line.

The latest data, offering a broad snapshot of America’s households, is the latest to show that children of single parents often have a rougher time financially than those with both parents, a scenario encountered far more by blacks and Hispanics than by whites. About 55% of black children and 31% of Hispanic children live with one parent, compared to 20% of white children and 13% of Asian children.

Other new data released in the report:

– One in four women raising children are doing it on their own. Women are far more likely to be single parents than men, the figures show. Two-thirds, or 67%, of mothers living with their children have a spouse present, compared with 86% of fathers living with their children. One in four mothers with a child under age 18 has no partner present, compared with 6% of fathers.

– The share of so-called family households — in which at least two occupants are related by blood, marriage or adoption — has fallen sharply in recent decades. This year, roughly two-thirds, or 66%, of households were family households, down from 81% in 1970.

–The share of households that are married couples with children has declined by about half, to 19% this year versus 40% in 1970.

– Households also are becoming smaller. On average, 2.5 people share a household currently, compared to 3.1 people in 1970. That’s in part because families are having fewer children. Average children per family fell to 0.9 from 1.3 during that period.