typically underrecognized in research and by the
media.
The Prevalence of Single-Parent Families
in America
It has been predicted that half of all American
children born in the 1990s will spend some part of
their childhood in single-parent homes. Figures avail-
able from the U.S. Bureau of the Census (which yield-
ed all of the statistics presented here) indicate that the
percent of American homes that were single parent in
composition increased dramatically from 1970 (when
18.5% of homes were single parent) to 1999 (27.7%).
Such increases are accounted for by rising divorce
rates (5.7% of first-time marriages ended in divorce
in 1970, while 18.5% of such marriages ended in di-
vorce in 1998) and an increase in the number of
women who give birth to or adopt children outside of
marital relationships. Women giving birth outside of
marital relationships include adolescent mothers and
increasing numbers of older, more affluent (and pre-
dominantly white) women, who have elected to be-
come single parents through either out-of-marriage
births or adoption. Such women are called single
mothers by choice.
There are ethnic differences in the prevalence of
single-parent families. In 1999 the rate of single-
parent families among black families was 56 percent;
among Hispanic families, 32 percent; and among
white families, 20 percent. Higher rates of black sin-
gle-parent families result from higher rates of out-of-
marriage adolescent childbearing within this group
and higher divorce rates among black women.
The Well-Being of Children Raised in
Single-Parent Homes
When compared to their peers from traditional
two-parent homes, children raised in single-parent
homes are at risk for a number of less desirable out-
comes. Such outcomes include both lower academic
performance and a higher incidence of behavioral
problems. It would be a mistake to conclude, howev-
er, that such negative outcomes were the direct conse-
quence of the number of parents in the home or, as
has been suggested on occasion, the absence of a fa-
ther figure in a child’s life. Instead, children are ad-
versely affected by circumstances that co-occur with
single-parent family configurations (such as economic
disadvantage, residential instability, and interparen-
tal conflict) or are the consequence of such configura-
tions (such as disrupted parenting). Such
circumstances are not uniformly present in the lives
of all single-parent families. Consequently, children
from different types of single-parent families are at
differential risk for adverse outcomes associated with
their living arrangements.
A greater percentage of single-parent families
(57.4% in 1999) than two-parent families (6.3%) live
below the poverty line. The percentage of single-
parent families below the poverty line is highest for
adolescent single mothers and lowest for widowed
mothers. In addition, a higher percentage of single
mothers than single fathers lives below the poverty
line. Economic disadvantage is linked with lower aca-
demic achievement and increased behavioral prob-
lems among children. Fewer economic resources are
also linked with residential instability, which further
contributes to children’s academic and behavioral dif-
ficulties. Differences in well-being for children from
single-parent families versus two-parent families typi-
cally disappear when differences in economic circum-
stances are taken into account.
Families that attain their single-parent status
through marital dissolution are disproportionately
more likely to experience both residential instability
and higher rates of interparental conflict (both prior
and subsequent to marital disruption). Children who
are exposed to interparental conflict are more likely
to experience difficulties with regard to psychological
and behavioral adjustment and academic achieve-
ment. Again, once levels of interparental conflict are
taken into account, differences in well-being for chil-
dren from single-parent families versus two-parent
families are reduced.
Finally, children from all family types are at risk
when they experience parenting that is inadequate in
terms of warmth, control, or monitoring. Less than
optimal parenting is more likely to be observed in
families that are experiencing economic stress and
among adolescent mothers (although a large part of
this association may be explained by the greater like-
lihood that adolescent single mothers will experience
economic disadvantage). Psychologist Mavis Hether-
ington has found that the parenting skills of mothers
tend to diminish in the years immediately following
divorce, and children who are exposed to such dis-
ruptions in parenting experience concurrent psycho-
logical, behavioral, and academic difficulties. As
mothers adjust to their new single-parent status, how-
ever, their parenting improves, as does their chil-
dren’s well-being.Single Fathers Compared to Single
Mothers
The overwhelming majority of single-parent fam-
ilies are headed by mothers (84% of all single-parent
families in 1998), rather than fathers (16%). Still, theSINGLE-PARENT FAMILIES 367