The implications of family structure for children have been a central focus of public policy and research for decades. This brief highlights trends in family structure for children in the United States over the last few decades and reviews the research evidence on the effects of family structure on children. Research tells us that children […]
This report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) summarizes 2005 preliminary births and birth rates and selected 2005 preliminary maternal and infant health birth data for the United States. The findings come from a substantial portion of the records of births (99.2 percent) that occurred in calendar […]
This fact sheet from the National Healthy Marriage Resource Center outlines the trends in children’s living arrangements from 1970-2004.
This is a one page factsheet on marriage rates from 1935-2005.
The percent of men and women who have ever married in the United States increases steadily with age. In other words, a smaller number of 20- to 24-year-olds than 40- to 49-year-olds have ever been married. By the time they reach their 70s, nearly 100% of Americans today have been married at some point in […]
Fact sheet from the National Healthy Marriage Resource Center outlining the trend in birth rates for unmarried women from 1975 to present.
U.S. government policy has sought alternatively to improve the circumstances of single parent families and to reduce their numbers. There now is growing interest in interventions seeking to promote healthy marriages, and, where marriage is infeasible, strengthen relationships between unmarried parents. These interventions will stand a better chance for success if they are based on […]
In 2002, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) within the Department of Health and Human Services launched the Healthy Marriage Initiative (HMI) to support the President Bush’s goal of increasing healthy marriages by focusing attention and action on strengthening marriages and preparing interested individuals and couples for healthy marriage. In supporting healthy marriage, ACF […]
The Administration for Children and Families within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has launched a project called Supporting Healthy Marriage (SHM). Led by MDRC, a team of nationally known policy research organizations, and leading experts on marriage, marriage education programs, and services for low-income families, the SHM project is the first large-scale […]
This document includes detailed information at the national level about the characteristics of children, husbands and wives, unmarried couples, households and family groups. Many of the tables have data by race and Hispanic origin. The data are from the 2005 Current Population Survey’s (CPS) Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC). The ASEC supplement to the […]