Number of households with kids hits new low

Source:  USATODAY.com

The percentage of American households with children under 18 living at home last year hit the lowest point — 46% — in half a century, government data reported Wednesday.

The trend reflects the aging of the Baby Boom generation and younger women having fewer children, demographers say.

“Baby Boomers have been a big force in driving a lot of different population dynamics,” says Rose Kreider, a family demographer at the Census Bureau, which released the data.

In 2008, about 35.7 million families (46%) had children under 18 at home, the Census figures show, down from 52% in 1950. The percentage peaked in 1963, when about 57% of families had children under 18 at home.
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… When cash-strapped workers have fewer dollars to feed another mouth, couples are likely to have fewer children, or none.

The data also show:

•About 5.3 million “stay-at-home” mothers and 140,000 such fathers.

•The median age at first marriage was 27.4 years for men and 25.6 for women.

•Fewer women in their mid- to early 40s had children in 2008 (20%), up from 10% in 1976.

•The percentage of children with two parents at home varies: 85% of Asian children have two parents at home vs. 78% of white, 70% of Hispanic and 38% of black children.

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