PF 1.3

THE PERCENTAGE OF FAMILIES CONTAINING CHILDREN,
AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF FAMILIES BY NUMBER OF CHILDREN

Since 1960, Americans have been moving toward having families with fewer children. Indeed, a growing percentage of families have no minor children of their own in their household. Between 1960 and 1996, the percentage of families with four or more own children under age 18 in the household decreased from nine percent to three percent (see Figure PF 1.3). During the same period, the proportion of families with no minor children grew from 43 percent to 51 percent.

Differences by Race and Ethnicity. These general trends are also evident when white, black, and Hispanic families are considered separately, though the levels are substantially different for each group (see Table PF 1.3). For example, between 1970 and 1996 the percentage of black families with four or more children dropped from 19 percent to five percent. The percentage for whites during that period went from nine percent to three percent. For Hispanic families, the percentage dropped from ten percent to seven percent between 1980 (the first year for which Hispanic estimates are available) and 1996.

Black and Hispanic families were considerably less likely than white families to be without any minor children, with proportions of 43 percent, 36 percent, and 52 percent, respectively in 1996. They were also both more likely than white families to have four or more children, though these differences were smaller than in previous decades.

 

Figure PF 1.3   Percentage of Families with No Children, and With Four or More Resident Children: 1960–1996

Source: Estimates for 1960 - 1996 from “Household and Family Characteristics,” Current Population Reports, Series P-20 for various years.
 

Table PF 1.3  Percentage Distribution of Families by Number of Own Children Under 18 Years of Age: 1960–1996
			1960	1970	1980	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996
All Families
	Without own children		43	44	48	51	51	51	51	50	51	51
	One child		19	18	21	21	20	20	20	20	20	20
	2 children		18	17	19	19	19	18	19	19	19	19
	3 children		11	11	8	7	7	7	7	8	7	7
	4 or more children		9	10	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	3
White Families
	Without own children		43	45	49	51	53	53	53	52	52	52
	One child		19	18	21	21	19	20	19	19	20	19
	2 children		18	18	19	19	18	18	19	19	19	19
	3 children		11	11	8	7	7	7	7	7	7	7
	4 or more children		9	9	4	3	3	3	2	2	2	3
Black Families
	Without own children		—	39	38	41	41	42	42	40	42	43
	One child		—	18	23	25	25	24	25	25	24	24
	2 children		—	15	20	19	19	19	18	20	20	18
	3 children		—	10	10	9	9	10	10	9	9	9
	4 or more children		—	19	8	6	6	5	5	5	5	5
Hispanic Families
	Without own children		—	—	31	37	36	36	37	36	36	36
	One child		—	—	23	23	22	22	23	22	23	23
	2 children		—	—	23	21	23	22	22	23	23	23
	3 children		—	—	13	12	12	13	12	13	12	12
	4 or more children		—	—	10	7	7	7	7	6	7	7
Source: Estimates for 1960 - 1996 from "Household and Family Characteristics," Current Population Reports, Series  P-20 for various years.