Since 1950, the percentage of American children living in mother-only families has climbed from 6 percent to 24 percent in 1994. [1] According to Census Bureau data,[2] 19 million children were living in families with no father present in 1994. Because many of the children currently living in two-parent families are projected to experience a divorce before they grow up, more than half of today's children are likely to spend some of their childhood in a single-parent home.

Furthermore, between 1985 and 1992, the share of families with children headed by a single mother increased in every state and the District of Columbia. The share of our children living in mother-only families

is increasing in cities, suburbs, and rural areas, and it is rising among all racial groups.

One of the major reasons fewer fathers are living with their children is the diminished employment and earning success experienced by an increasing share of young men, especially those who have little education. The changing U.S. economic structure has dramatically altered job requirements, resulting in a lower demand for workers without a good education. Consequently, many men are unable to fulfill the role of significant earner that is so fundamental to their families and to their own self-image. The real income of young men, especially those with no education beyond high school, has been declining rapidly. Since 1972 median earned income[9] of all men ages 25 to 34 has fallen by 26 percent (in inflation-adjusted dollars). The annual earnings of black male high school [10] dropouts in their 20s fell by a full 50 percent between 1973 and 1989. The annual earnings for white dropouts in their 20s fell by a third.

While the percentage of children in single-parent families is increasing almost everywhere, the trend is more advanced in certain communities. In a growing number of neighborhoods, father-absent families are the norm. The 1990 Census shows that across the country there were 4.5 million children growing up in neighborhoods where more than half of all families with children were headed by a woman with no husband present. Such neighborhoods can be found in nearly every state.

Low earnings for men not only are correlated with reduced marriage rates, but also appear to contribute to divorce. Married couples where men are not working are about twice as likely to experience a separation and/or div

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