A KIDS COUNT Working Paper

After increasing steadily for several decades, the percentage of children living in single-mother families leveled off in the mid-1990s at 25 percent and actually fell slightly between 1999 and 2001. Despite the change in the trajectory of children living in single-mother families that occurred in the mid-1990s, there has been relatively little recognition of this major change in American families by researchers, policymakers, or the media. The lack of attention is surprising in light of the extensive discussions among policymakers about the importance of marriage and the need for government intervention to create more stable two-parent families. The goal of this paper is to stimulate researchers, policymakers, and family experts to focus on the radical change that occurred in the mid-1990s by presenting detailed data on recent changes in family structure. Key findings: • The share of children living in single-mother families decreased from 25 percent in 1996 to 23 percent in 2001, and the change was widespread. Between 1996 and 2001, the percentage of children living in single-mother families declined i