Number of Kids Growing Up in Two-Parent Families Increases to 70%, Highest Figure in 30 Years

National   |   Shakhzod Yuldoshboev   |   Jun 28, 2021   |   1:36PM   |   Washington, DC

The portion of U.S. children who live with both parents exceeded 70% in 2020, reversing a nearly 30-year-long trend, data shows.

70.4% of children under 18 live in two-parent households, and 63% of minors reside with both birth parents, according to the Current Population Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, Institute for Family Studies (ISF) reported.

“[T]he proportion of children under 18 living with two parents declined from 88% in 1960 to just over two-thirds in 2005” while “the proportion living with divorced, separated or never-married single parents tripled from 9% to 28%” over the same period, according to ISF.

A reversal in this downward trend started in 2006, improving from 67.3% to 70.4% by 2020, the data indicates. In 2020, the number of children living with a single parent reportedly fell to 25.5%, marking a 25-year-low.

The portion of high school seniors raised by both parents started to precipitously decline in 1996, falling from 61% to under 50% in 2012, ISF’s estimates showed.

However, the past years witnessed this statistic’s movement in the opposite direction. By 2019, 53% of high school seniors had been raised by both parents, up more than 3% since 2012.

LifeNews Note: Shakhzod Yuldoshboev writes for Daily Caller. Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience.