For Immediate Release: Thursday, May 30, 2024

Census Bureau Releases New Estimates on Families and Living Arrangements

Press Release Number: CB24-TPS.56

MAY 30, 2024 — The U.S. Census Bureau today released estimates showing that married-couple households made up 47% of all households in 2022, down from 71% in 1970. Estimates from the America’s Families and Living Arrangements: 2022 report also show that about 80 million U.S. households in 2019 were family households. Of those family households, 58 million were married-couple households, about 6 million were a male householder with no spouse present, and 15 million were a female householder with no spouse present.

Additionally, nonfamily households were about 19% of all households in 1970, but by 2022, they made up about 36% of all households. Women living alone made up the largest percentage of nonfamily households in both 1970 and 2022. In 1970, about 12% of households were women living alone, compared to about 16% in 2022. The share of households with men living alone grew from about 6% in 1970 to about 13% in 2022, the largest percentage-point change of other nonfamily household groups.

Other highlights:

  • In 2022, about 57% of men and 55% of women ages 18-24 lived in their parents’ home, compared to 52% of men and 35% of women in that age group in 1960.
  • In 2022, 65% of all family groups with children under age 18 were maintained by married parents.
  • About 74% of mothers and 91% of fathers lived with their child and the child’s other parent in 2022.
  • In 2020, about 20% of children lived in a household that received food stamps, up from 17% in the previous year.
  • The share of children with no coresident parent(s) in the labor force increased from about 7% in 2019 to 8% in 2021.

These statistics come from the American Community Survey and the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement.

For more data on families and living arrangements, visit The Modern Family: Changes in Structure and Living Arrangements in the United States, How are Single-Parent Households Distributed Across the United States?, or the Families and Living Arrangements page at census.gov.

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Contact


Kristina Barrett
Public Information Office
301-763-3030 or
877-861-2010 (U.S. and Canada only)
pio@census.gov

Page Last Revised - May 30, 2024