Census Bureau: Traditional families 'rebound'

FROM THE ARCHIVE

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APRIL 16, 2001

The traditional American family is on the "rebound," said the Census Bureau on Friday, as more and more children under the age of 18 are being raised in two-parent households.

But American Indian and Alaska Native families are less likely than their counterparts to resemble the stereotypical "nuclear family." Only 37 percent of Indian children in 1996 met the Census Bureau's definition of a traditional family, compared to 56 percent of the country as a whole.

The rate was the second lowest of any racial or ethnic group in the United States. African-American children, at 26 percent, trailed Indian Country.

A nuclear family is defined as one with a mother and a father and their biological children. Families with adopted children, step-parents, or grandparents are not considered nuclear by the Census Bureau.

According to the Census Bureau, nuclear families are on the rise. From 1991 to 1996, the proportion of children living in nuclear families increased from 51 percent to 56 percent.

Despite not meeting the government's standard of a traditional family, most Indian children live in two parent households. About 62 percent of American Indian and Alaska Natives under the age of 18 live with two parents.

The proportion again was the second lowest of all racial and ethnic groups.

Some 30 percent of Indian children are being raised by a mother alone, a rate comparable to Hispanic children. About 2 percent are being raised by a father alone, comparable to all ethnic and racial groups.

Among the factors cited for the varying differences among racial and ethnic groups is the overall rise in unmarried parents over the past several decades. Coupled with divorce, more and more families are being labeled "blended," or those with step-parents and step-siblings.

About 20 percent of American Indian children lived in blended families in 1996, a rate comparable to African-American and non-White Hispanics.

Along with Hispanics, Indian children belong to increasingly larger families than the rest of the country. Some 55 percent of Indian children lived with two or more siblings, the highest proportion of any group.

Asian-American and Indian children share similar rates of living with extended family members. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other relatives were among the family members cited as living with Asian and Indian families.

Get the Data:
Report: Living Arrangements of Children: Fall 1996 (Census Bureau P70-74 April 13, 2001)
Table: Detailed Living Arrangements of Children by Race and Hispanic Origin, 1996 (Census Bureau)
Table: Historical Living Arrangements of Children (Census Bureau)

Census 2000 Profiles:
Washington (3/27) | New Mexico (3/26) | American FactFinder (3/14) | American Indians in the United States (3/13) | South Dakota (3/12)

Relevant Links:
US Census Bureau - www.census.gov