Single Parent Statistics

"Numerous statistics show that children raised in stable two-parent households do far better than those raised in single-parent households. They are less likely to have out-of-wedlock births, less likely to engage in criminal behavior and more likely to complete high school."

26 percent of U.S. children under the age of 18 lived in a single-parent home

12 percent of U.S. children in single parent families with householders who had at least a bachelor’s degree, compared with 9 percent of children living with neither parent and 30 percent of children living in a married-couple family.

4.4 million Number of U.S. male-maintained family households with no wife present: that’s 4.2 percent all households.

19.2 percent of American children live with single mothers in 2002, down from 21.5 percent in 1997.

About 70 percent of American single mothers were employed in March and April 2003, down from nearly 75 percent at the end of 2000.

12 percent of U.S. family households are female-maintained with no husband present. That hasn't changed for the past 15 years.

Four percent of U.S. family households are male-maintained with no wife present – a one percent increase since 1990.

28 percent of British families with children were lone parent families in 2004.

One in four U.K. children lived in lone-parent families in 2004. That is more than triple the percent in 1972, when just one in 17 children lived in a lone-parent family.

Over 40 percent of families with kids in areas of London are lone parent families -- double the UK average.

13 percent of all British families were lone-parent families in 2002, compared to British-Caribbean households of which were 42 percent were lone-parent, British Indians’s 9 percent , British Pakistanis’ 12 percent , and British Bangladeshis’ 13 percent.

Nine percent of all lone mothers in Britain between 1991-1993 continued to live with their parents. 16 percent of never-married mothers continued to live with their parents.

30 percent of all Spanish lone mothers with children under age 18 lived with their own mothers in 1991, as did slightly less than half of all mothers with children under six.

14 percent of all Australian families in 2003 were one parent families.

19.9 percent of Australian Children under 15 were living in single-parent homes in 2003.

53 percent The increase in the number of one-parent families in Australia from 1986 and 2001. That is over 14 times the growth in the number of couple families with children (which increased by just three percent.).

2.5 percent of Australian families with children under 15 are headed by a single-father.

19.3 percent of Australian families with children under 15 are headed by a single-mother.

14 percent of all Australian families in 2003 who were one parent families.

22 percent of all Australian families with children aged 0-17 are one parent families.

83 percent of Australian lone parents in 2001 were female (635,100) compared to 17 percent male (127,500).

31 percent of babies born in Australia in 2001 were born to unmarried mothers.

35 percent of Australian lone parents of children aged 0-17 years, who reported that they had never married.

10 percent of households in the U.K. were single-parent families in 1998.

10 percent of Jewish Israeli households are single-parent families.

11 percent of households in Ireland contain single parents with children.

22 percent of households in South Africa were single-parent families in 1998.

20 percent of households in Sri Lanka are female-headed. That's the highest proportion of female-headed households in South Asia, "mainly due to the existing political unrest. Consequently a significant number of young widows have emerged as female heads of households. A note worthy feature of female headed households is that the majority are widowed women, and the average size of their households are comparatively small."

44.7 percent of households in Jamaica were female-headed in 2001. St. Lucia and Haiti had similar rates – 42.8 percent and 42.7 percent, respectively.

10 percent of households in Trinidad and Tobago are headed by single mothers.

8.6 percent of all families with children under 18 years of age in Spain were single parent families in 1990-1991.

11.9 percent of all families with children under 18 years of age in France were single parent families in 1990-1991.

15.7 percent of all families with children under 18 years of age in Germany were single parent families in 1990-1991.

16.8 percent of all families with children under 18 years of age in Canada were single parent families in 1990-1991.

18.1 percent of all families with children under 18 years of age in the Netherlands were single parent families in 1990-1991.

22.3 percent of all families with children under 18 years of age in Sweden were single parent families in 1990-1991.

23.5 percent of all families with children under 18 years of age in the United States were single parent families in 1990-1991.

It's five times as likely for U.S. children in mother-only family groups to be in poverty as children living in married-couple family groups: 39 percent of children in mother-only groups are in poverty while eight percent of married-couple families are in poverty.

53.3 percent of U.S. mothers without present spouses (married without spouse, separated, divorced, widowed or never married ) are in the labor force.

$25,500 is the median family income for U.S. female householders with no husband present. That is about half the income of all families and less than half of married-couple families. And, adjusting for inflation, it's also less than the median family income of married-couple families in 1969 ($39,800).

55.4 percent of U.S. families maintained by men without spouses are homeowners, compared with about half (49.6 percent) of those maintained by women without spouses.

28.0 percent – 3.9 million – of the households in the U.S. with a female-householder and no-husband present families are in poverty – compared to just 5.5 percent of married-couple families.

52.6 percent of related U.S. children under six who live in families with female householders with no husband present were in poverty in 2004, about five times the rate of their counterparts in married couple families (10.1 percent).

13.5 percent of the households in the U.S. with a male-householder and no-wife present families in the U.S. are in poverty. That's much less than the rate for single mothers, but still more than twice the rate for married-couple families.

59.2 percent of U.S. children living with a single mother lived in poverty in 1994.

16.7 percent of U.S. children living with single parents lived in poverty in 1994.

63 percent of U.K. lone parents live in poverty. The British government believes that the increase in single parent households over the past 20 years has been one of the major reasons for the growth in child poverty.

45 percent of poor children in the U.K. live in a one parent family.

40.3 percent of British children living with a single mother lived in poverty in 1995, compared to 17.5 percent of those living in a two-parent family.

14 percent British households of single parent families had incomes that were below half-the average income. That is almost twice the rate of the total population (eight percent).

47 percent of British single mothers were employed in the mid 1990s.

42 percent of British single mothers were employed in the end of the 1970s.

11 percent of all households in Ireland consisted of lone parents with children in 1996.

47 percent of single Irish parents of children under five years old were employed in 2001.

58 percent of Australian lone parents received a government pension, benefit or allowance as their main source of income in 2003 – compared to eight percent of couples with children aged 0-17 years.

Almost 50 percent of single parents in Finland work.31.0 percent of Russian children living with a single mother lived in poverty in 1995, compared to 26.0 percent of those living in a two-parent family.

26.6 percent of Israeli children living with a single mother lived in poverty in 1992, compared to 14.0 percent of those living in a two-parent family.

25.4 percent of French children living with a single mother lived in poverty in 1989, compared to 7.7 percent of those living in a two-parent family.

15.2 percent of Taiwanese children with a single mother lived in poverty in 1995, compared to just 5.1 percent of those living in a two-parent family.

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