Census data shows a big decline in married-couple households

Latest data available from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that married-couple households made up 47% of all households in 2022, down from 71% in 1970.

The Census report – America’s Families and Living Arrangements: 2022 – also shows that about 80 million U.S. households in 2019 were family households. Of those family households, 58 million were married-couple households, about 6 million were a male householder with no spouse present, and 15 million were a female householder with no spouse present.

Nonfamily households were about 19% of all households in 1970, but by 2022, they made up about 36% of all households. Women living alone made up the largest percentage of nonfamily households in 1970 and 2022. In 1970, about 12% of households were women living alone, compared to about 16% in 2022.

The share of households with men living alone grew from about 6% in 1970 to about 13% in 2022, the largest percentage-point change of other nonfamily household groups.

Following are other info from the Census report posted May 30.
• In 2022, about 57% of men and 55% of women ages 18-24 lived in their parents’ home, compared to 52% of men and 35% of women in that age group in 1960.

• In 2022, 65% of all family groups with children under age 18 were maintained by married parents.

• About 74% of mothers and 91% of fathers lived with their child and the child’s other parent in 2022.

• In 2020, about 20% of children lived in a household that received food stamps, up from 17% in the previous year.

• The share of children with no coresident parent(s) in the labor force increased from about 7% in 2019 to 8% in 2021.