Key Statistics

STATISTICS/RESEARCH FINDINGS ON FAMILIES

1. About 50 % of first marriages end in divorce within the first decade.
2. Following divorce, 80% of men and 75% of women remarry, usually within 5 years.
3. Studies suggest that second and third marriages are more likely to end than first marriages are.
4. Each year, over 1 million couples divorce in the United States and over 1 million children are affected.
5. When divorce occurs, mothers get custody of minor children in most cases.
6. Twenty Four million children in the United States do not live  with their biological father.*
7. In 2000, there were about 1.35 million out-of-wedlock births in the United States.*
8. Over 3 million children in the United States live with an unmarried parent and his/her partner.*
9. About 40 % of children who do not live with their biological father have not seen him during the past 12 months; more than half of them have never been in his home and 26% of those fathers live in a different sate than their children.*
10. In 1960, only 9% of children in the United States lived with single parents. By 1995 that figure rose to 27%.*
11. Ninety percent of Americans believe children should live in the same home with their mother and father.*
12. Eighty-five percent of Americans feel the number of children who are born to single parents is a “serous” issue.*
13. Almost 18 million children in grades 1 to 12 do not live with their biological father.*
14. About 27% of White children, 35% of Hispanic children and 66% of Black children do not live with their biological father.*
15. About 80% of African Americans can expect to spend “a significant” portion of their childhood living without their biological father.*
16. In 1990, almost 5 million children lived in neighborhoods in which single mothers were head of household in more than half of all families in those neighborhoods, 80% of those children were African Americans.*
17. Nationally, over 19.2 million children live with single parents. About 3 million live with single fathers while over 16 million live with single mothers.*
18. Most single mothers with children younger than 6 years old have never been married.*
19. Unmarried parents accounted for over 30% of children born in 2000.*
20. In the 10-year period between 1990 and 2000, the number of single mothers who have never been married rose 10%.*
21. In comparison to women who have been to college, those over 20 who did not graduate high school, are about three times more likely to have children without being married.*
22. In 2000, among White mothers about 27% of all births were out-of-wedlock, among Hispanic mothers about 43% and Black mothers about 70%.*
23. In 1996, over 9 million children under 18 years old who were born out of wedlock did not have a father who was legally identified.*
24. Girls, whose mothers were teenagers at the time of their birth, are over 80% more likely to become teenage mothers as well.*
25. In 1970, there were about 4 million divorced Americans. By 1998, the figure rose to over 19 million.*
26. Since 1970, men have been divorcing at a median age between 32 and 36 years old.*
27. About 60% of couples who divorce have at least one child.*
28. Divorce is more common among people who marry before they are 21 years old, those who are not religious; those are of a lower socio-economic status and those who marry because of pregnancy.*
29. Studies on families with a great deal of conflict suggest that children raised in those families do better if their parents stay together than if they divorced.*
30. Studies suggest that boys might be more adversely affected by divorce than girls might. However, studies of college students suggest that girls whose parents divorced are more likely to develop depression, have problems in their relationships and have children out-of-wedlock.*
31. Generally, people whose parents never divorced tend to feel more satisfied with their lives than others, whose parents did.*
32. Men who divorce are two times more likely to commit suicide than those who stay married.*
33. A positive correlation has been established between fathers who do not live with their children and pay child support and academic success.*
34. Families with stepmothers tend to have more problems than those with stepfathers. Stepfathers tend to be more dissatisfied than biological fathers are and are twice as likely to become depressed. The likelihood is three times greater that boys raised in stepparent families will become imprisoned, when compared with those raised with both parents in the same home.*
35. One study suggested that children with stepfathers are three times more likely to be abused. Another indicated that 17% of female victims were sexually abused by their stepfather.*
36. Biological parents are on average more loving towards their children than stepparents are. Stepparents also tend to be more hostile and indifferent towards step-children.*
37. Problems associated with single parenting do not disappear when single mothers marry.*
38. The fathers of over 1 million children in the United States are in prison.*
39. African American children are 9 times more likely than White children are, to have an incarcerated parent.*

*Reproduced from “Father Facts,” Fourth Edition (2002), with permission from the National Fatherhood Initiative.