Census finds single-father households jumped 62%
Friday, May 18, 2001
By GENARO C. ARMAS
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- More fathers are going solo in raising kids.
It's a change that single fathers say shows greater acceptance by American families and courts that sometimes the
best place for children is with Dad.
The 2000 census found:
In 2.2 million households, fathers raise their children without a mother. That's about one household in 45.
The number of single-father households rose 62 percent in 10 years.
The portion of households headed by fathers with children living there doubled in a decade, to 2 percent.
Single fathers say the numbers help tear down a long-standing conception that single fathers tend to abandon their
kids, or at least not take as good care of them as single moms, said Vince Regan, an Internet consultant from Grand
Rapids, Mich., who is raising five kids on his own.
"In time, it goes a long way to helping society think that single fathers do help their kids and want to be
part of their lives," he said.
Thomas Coleman, executive director of the American Association for Single People, attributed the rise in single
dads to a variety of reasons, including more judges awarding custody to fathers in divorce cases and more women
choosing their jobs over family life.
The percentage increase in single-father households far outpaced other living arrangements. The "Ozzie and
Harriett" household, where both parents raise the children like on the old TV show, increased by 6 percent,
and single-mother homes were up by 25 percent.
Father-headed households are still only a small percentage. Married couples with children make up 24 percent of
all households. They were 39 percent of all homes in 1970. Single-mother homes made up 7 percent of households
in 2000, up from 5 percent over 30 years ago.
Single fathers "need help just as much as single mothers," said Darryl Pure, a psychologist from Chicago
who has had sole custody of his three children for four years, but they have a harder time asking.
"There's often a fear among single fathers that if the mother steps in, she'll regain custody, so single,
custodial fathers don't go after child support as much as single mothers do, and I know a lot of fathers that are
really impoverished," Pure said.
The Census Bureau counts single fathers in a category that could allow other adults, such as the child's grandparents,
to be present, but bureau analysts said research shows that most of the men in the category are raising a child
alone.
The bureau released basic figures for 21 states and the District of Columbia this week on topics ranging from age
to home ownership. Other states are scheduled to be released later this month.
According to 2000 census data being released Friday, some of the biggest increases in single-father households
occurred in southern and western states.
Copyright © 2001 North Jersey Media Group Inc.
