The Bottom Line: Quick facts about the modern American family.
The Full Story:
- In 1960, 37% of households included a married couple raising their own children. More than a half-century later, just 16% of households look like that.
- Today, the median age at first marriage is 29 for men and 27 for women, the highest in modern history.
- Today, an American woman, on average, is expected to have 1.9-children, compared with a total fertility rate of 3.7-children in 1960. Current levels are below the “replacement rate” of about 2.1 children, the number of births needed for children to replace their parents in the population.
- More babies are born to unmarried mothers than ever before.
- Families today are more blended and “differently constructed.” Nearly half (44%) of young people ages 18 to 29 have a step sibling. About half as many (23%) of those ages 50 to 64—and just 16% of those 65 or older—have a step sibling.
- Families today are differently constructed and vary in ages between couples.
- Intermarriage among people of different races is increasingly common. In 1980, just 7% of all marriages in the U.S. were between spouses of different race or ethnicity.