3 of 3 Post Regarding Statistics

Here is my 3^rd post on statistics for single parent families regarding the parent and their children as I promised. On Thursday of this week I shall give my thoughts on all of the statistics I have posted. There are so many statistics out there and they all seem to go from worse to far worse and as you will read the following statistics were taken in the 90’s.   

Here is a quote to read first I hope you can take it in before taking in the statistics…

I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.”  

Charles R. Swindoll

By the U.S. Census Bureau in November, 2009:

Children Being Raised in Single Parent Homes:

·        21.8 million children under the age of 21 are being raised by a single parent

·        This represents 26.3% of all children under 21 in the U.S.

Custodial Single Parent Statistics:

·        Mothers represent 82.6% of all custodial parents.

·        Fathers represent 17.4% of all custodial parents.

Single Parent Statistics Regarding Employment:

·        53.7% of custodial single parents work full-time, year-round.

·        27.7% of custodial single parents work either part-time or part-year.

·        18.7% of custodial single parents do not work.

Single Parent Statistics and Poverty:

·        24.6% of all custodial parents and their children earn less than the Federal poverty level.

·        12.5% of the general population in the U.S. lives in poverty.

Single Parent Statistics and Government Assistance:

·        In 1993, 22% of custodial single parents received Aid to Families With Dependent Children.

·        AFDC is now Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)

·        In 2007, 4.3% of custodial single parents received TANF.

The following statistics is what adds more fuel to “The Why” a strong online membership community is needed.  Please keep in mind the following information below is from 1991: [Current Populations Reports, US Bureau of the Census, Series P-20, No. 458, 1991]

What does this mean?  Children from fatherless homes are:

• 4.6 times more likely to commit suicide,
• 6.6 times to become teenaged mothers (if they are girls, of course),
• 24.3 times more likely to run away,
• 15.3 times more likely to have behavioral disorders,
• 6.3 times more likely to be in a state-operated institutions,
• 10.8 times more likely to commit rape,
• 6.6 times more likely to drop out of school,
• 15.3 times more likely to end up in prison while a teenager.

(The calculation of the relative risks shown in the preceding list is based on 27% of children being in the care of single mothers.)

and — compared to children who are in the care of two biological, married parents — children who are in the care of single mothers are:

• 33 times more likely to be seriously abused (so that they will require medical attention), and
• 73 times more likely to be killed.