In 2012, More Kids Lived in Single-Parent Families

In 2012, 35% of chil­dren (24.7 mil­lion) lived in sin­gle-par­ent fam­i­lies. While there was lit­tle change in this indi­ca­tor from the pre­vi­ous year, the per­cent­age of chil­dren liv­ing in these house­holds has increased by 13% (4 mil­lion chil­dren) since 2000. Kids liv­ing in sin­gle-par­ent fam­i­lies are four times more like­ly to live in pover­ty than those with mar­ried par­ents (37% vs. 9%). Rates of chil­dren in sin­gle-par­ent fam­i­lies range from a high of 49% in Mis­sis­sip­pi to a low of 20% in Utah.

See the Fam­i­ly and Com­mu­ni­ty and Pover­ty sec­tions of the KIDS COUNT Data Cen­ter to access data for the nation, states, the Dis­trict of Colum­bia and the 50 largest cities:

• Chil­dren in sin­gle-par­ent families
• Child pop­u­la­tion by house­hold type
• Chil­dren liv­ing with cohab­it­ing domes­tic partners
• Grand­chil­dren in the care of grandparents
• Sin­gle-par­ent fam­i­lies with relat­ed chil­dren that are below poverty
• Mar­ried-cou­ple fam­i­lies with relat­ed chil­dren that are below poverty