The proportion of children who live with only one parent has doubled since 1970, according to a new report by the U.S. Bureau of the Census.
About 12 percent of all children in 1970 were in single-parent families, the report indicates; by 1988, 24 percent were in such families.
The bureau estimates that 15.3 million children under 18 lived in single-parent homes last year.
Such living arrangements were most common among black children, 54 percent of whom lived with just one parent. In comparison, 30 percent of Hispanic children and 18.9 percent of white children lived in single-parent households.
Copies of the report, “Marital Status and Living Arrangements: March 1988,” Series P-20, No. 432, are available from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402. The price of the report has not yet been set.
