"Living Arrangments of Children: 1996"

link to the full census report

"Children live in a variety of family arrangements, some of which are complex, as a consequence of the marriage, divorce, and remarriage patterns of their parents.  In addition, one-third of children today are born out-of-wedlock and may grow up in single-parent families or spend significant portions of their lives with other relatives or stepparents."

"Out of wedlock childbearing and divorce among parents often results in children living with an unmarried parent for significant portions of their childhood.   A 1984 study estimated that almost half of children under 16 would someday live in a single-parent household."

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"[I]n 1996, 19.7 million children (28 percent of all children) lived with unmarried parents.  It is particularly striking that 57 percent of Black children lived with unmarried parents."

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"The rapid increase in cohabitation among adults over the past several decades had led to significant proportions of children living with parents who are cohabiting with partners.  In 1996, there were 3.3 million children living with an unmarried parent and the parent's partner, representing about 5 percent of all children or 17 percent of children living with unmarried parents."

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"[M]ost children who lived with an unmarried parent were more likely to live with their mother than with their father.  Only 1.8 million children (9 percent of children living with unmarried parents) lived with their father without their mother present."