Single-Parent Households

The Profile of Single Parents

Race, income, education, and age remain leading determinants for the route into single parenthood, the formation of different living arrangements, and the access to types and quality of housing. By 2008, about 13.7 million single parents lived in the United States, and approximately 83% were mothers. In 2010, an estimated 18 million children were living with single parents who were predominantly women.

Mariko Chang and Nicole Miller's 2010 study helped to illuminate the plight of single-parent households. According to the study, a single mother was likely to be divorced and employed, especially if White. The authors also reported that 40% of all single mothers in the United States were over 40 years of age. Of single mothers, 41% were divorced or separated. Men typically became lone parents because of divorce and separation.

Entry into single parenting for African Americans and Latinas was more likely to be because of out-of-marriage births. Even though African American women have been having fewer children out of marriage, they were more likely to form single-parent households than Latinas and White women. More White children were living in households headed by women but the chances were greater that Black children were living in poverty.

Despite the poverty rate declining since 1975, single mothers were more likely to face housing related obstacles, when compared to married couples and custodial males. Women of color were found to be in more dire straits than Whites, regardless of race and ethnicity. Single parents fared worse when compared with all families in their particular group whether White, Black, Hispanic, or Asian. The difference was greatest among White female heads of households, followed by Hispanics, Blacks, and Asians.

[Page 674]The repercussions affected the ability to pay bills on time. Compared with Whites, five out of 10 African American women and four in 10 Latino women paid their bills late. Chang and Miller reported that child care and health care were among the expenses that made it difficult for single mothers to save.

...