70.4%
2025 (latest)
CHILDREN LIVING WITH TWO PARENTS
percent of children under 18 · 1960–2025 · neither direction is "better" · computed from the U.S. Census Bureau historical family and living-arrangement tables (counts divided within the same table)
87.7%
1960
87.7%
high · 1960
67.3%
low · 2005
−17 pts
since 1960
┊ dashed lines mark 1979 Oil shock & inflation peak · 1987 Black Monday crash · 1991 Gulf War recession · 2001 Dot-com bust & 9/11 · 2008 Global financial crisis · 2020 COVID-19 pandemic
Method & caveats. Computed from two-parent children divided by children under 18 in table scope. Excludes child householders, subfamily reference persons and spouses. In 2007 take 2007y (PELNMOM/PELNDAD, identifying both cohabiting parents), never 2007x (A_PARENT); gender-neutral PEPAR1/PEPAR2 pointers from 2019. Breaks: 2014 ASEC questionnaire redesign; decennial population-control revisions (the publisher's lettered r rows, taken over the original); 2021 appears twice in the tables (the later-method row is taken); 2025 uses Vintage-2025 population controls; 2019 onward includes same-sex married couples.
Sources
Every value on this page is read from the publisher below. Current and historical source documents:
- https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/demo/tables/families/time-series/children/ch1.xls
- https://github.com/danielmiessler/substrate/tree/main/Data/US-Family-And-Society
Data
| Year | Children living with two parents | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 70.4% | −0.8 pts |
| 2024 | 71.2% | +0.1 pts |
| 2023 | 71.1% | +0.9 pts |
| 2022 | 70.2% | +0.5 pts |
| 2021 | 69.7% | −0.7 pts |
| 2020 | 70.4% | +0.3 pts |
| 2019 | 70.1% | +1.0 pts |
| 2018 | 69.1% | +0.2 pts |
| 2017 | 68.9% | +0.2 pts |
| 2016 | 68.7% | −0.5 pts |
| 2015 | 69.2% | +0.6 pts |
| 2014 | 68.7% | +0.2 pts |
| 2013 | 68.5% | +0.4 pts |
| 2012 | 68.1% | −0.6 pts |
| 2011 | 68.7% | −0.7 pts |
| 2010 | 69.4% | −0.5 pts |
| 2009 | 69.8% | −0.0 pts |
| 2008 | 69.9% | −0.8 pts |
| 2007 | 70.7% | +3.3 pts |
| 2006 | 67.4% | +0.1 pts |
| 2005 | 67.3% | −0.4 pts |
| 2004 | 67.8% | −0.6 pts |
| 2003 | 68.4% | −0.3 pts |
| 2002 | 68.7% | −0.5 pts |
| 2001 | 69.2% | +0.0 pts |
| 2000 | 69.2% | +1.1 pts |
| 1999 | 68.0% | −0.1 pts |
| 1998 | 68.2% | −0.0 pts |
| 1997 | 68.2% | +0.2 pts |
| 1996 | 68.0% | −0.7 pts |
| 1995 | 68.7% | −0.5 pts |
| 1994 | 69.2% | −1.3 pts |
| 1993 | 70.5% | −0.2 pts |
| 1992 | 70.7% | −1.0 pts |
| 1991 | 71.7% | −0.8 pts |
| 1990 | 72.5% | −0.6 pts |
| 1989 | 73.2% | +0.4 pts |
| 1988 | 72.7% | −0.4 pts |
| 1987 | 73.1% | −0.8 pts |
| 1986 | 73.9% | +0.0 pts |
| 1985 | 73.9% | −1.0 pts |
| 1984 | 74.9% | +0.0 pts |
| 1983 | 74.9% | −0.1 pts |
| 1982 | 75.0% | −1.4 pts |
| 1981 | 76.3% | −0.3 pts |
| 1980 | 76.7% | −0.8 pts |
| 1979 | 77.4% | −0.3 pts |
| 1978 | 77.7% | −1.5 pts |
| 1977 | 79.2% | −0.8 pts |
| 1976 | 80.0% | −0.3 pts |
| 1975 | 80.3% | −1.1 pts |
| 1974 | 81.4% | −0.8 pts |
| 1973 | 82.1% | −1.0 pts |
| 1972 | 83.1% | −0.3 pts |
| 1971 | 83.4% | −1.8 pts |
| 1970 | 85.2% | +0.1 pts |
| 1969 | 85.1% | −0.2 pts |
| 1968 | 85.4% | −2.3 pts |
| 1960 | 87.7% | — |
Also in Family & Society