It Takes Two: Number of Children Growing up in Two-Parent Households Increases

There’s a lot of bad going on in the world, so when we have a win, it needs to be talked about.

The most recent win I’d like to bring to your attention is the below news coming out of the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Washington Stand reports:  

Newly published data from the U.S. Census Bureau indicates that the proportion of American children living in two-parent families increased to 71.1% in 2023, continuing a slight upward trajectory since 2015. The numbers appear to contradict a popular narrative in the mainstream media that American society no longer aspires to establish households with a mother and father to parent children.

As noted by Nicholas Zill, a research psychologist and a senior fellow of the Institute for Family Studies (IFS), the Census Bureau data “includes children living with a birth parent and stepparent and couples who are cohabiting without being married.” Zill goes on to observe that the proportion of children who live with two parents has been inching upward for some time. After increasing from 67.3% to 69.4% percent between 2005 and 2010, the number has steadily creeped upward from 69.2% in 2015 to 71.1% by the end of last year.

I became a mom in 2023 and let me tell you, I can’t IMAGINE doing this without my husband for support. Being a parent is truly a team effort, and children are almost always going to fare better with a mom AND a dad in the home.

It seems like more and more families are coming to the same conclusion. 71.1% is by no means the best we can do, but it is moving in the right direction.