Living Arrangements

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), Serving Children, Families, and Communities

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Living Arrangements

Q:	Does the proportion of children living in poverty vary by family structure?
A:	Children in single-parent families are more likely to live in poverty.

Poverty status of children by family structure, 2008

Children living with	Children under 18*	Percent below the poverty level	Percent of all children receiving
Children living with	Children under 18*	Percent below the poverty level	Food stamps	Public assistance
All Types	74,104	18%	13%	4%
Two parents	51,785	10	6	1
Single Parent	19,501	37	31	9
Mother only	16,888	40	34	10
Father only	2,613	17	12	4
Neither parent*	2,818	45	20	10

* data are in thousands.
** Includes children living with other relatives and those living with non-relatives.
***The Current Population Survey methodology changed to more accurately reflect children’s coresidence with their parents. This change is reflected in the estimates beginning in 2007, where two parent homes include all homes in which a child lives with both parents, married or unmarried (biological, step or adoptive). For more information please read: Improvements to data collection about families in CPS 2007.

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In 2008, about 1 in 10 (10%) of children living with both parents lived below the poverty level compared to more than 3 in 10 (37%) of children living with only one parent.
Children living with only their mothers in 2008 were more than twice as likely to live in poverty than those living with only their fathers (40% vs. 17%).
Overall, about 4% of children in 2008 lived in households receiving public assistance and 13% lived in households receiving food stamps, but the proportions were far greater for children living in single-mother families.

Internet citation: OJJDP Statistical Briefing Book. Online. Available: http://ojjdp.ncjrs.gov/ojstatbb/population/qa01203.asp?qaDate=2008. Released on October 31, 2009.

Data Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, America’s Families and Living Arrangements: 2008. Table C-8: "Poverty Status, Food Stamp Receipt, and Public Assistance for Children Under 18 Years." [Internet release date: January 2009]. Web-based data files available at: www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hh-fam/cps2008.html.