Philadelphia, PA-NJ

HOUSEHOLD AND FAMILY STRUCTURE

A household is defined as one or more people living in a residence. A family is more than one person living together, either married or of the same bloodline. The head of a household is one of the people who owns or rents the residence and was indicated first on the Census questionnaire.

The tendency for people to marry at an older age and the number of married people getting divorced may have contributed to the overall drop in married couples. Also, it may more culturally acceptable for people to not get married at all or to have non-traditional relationships.

Household Types, 1990-2000
1990 2000
Number Percent Number Percent
Total Households 1,801,159 100.00% 1,914,246 100.00%
Married Couple 946,112 52.53% 934,893 48.84%
With Children* 426,733 23.69% 430,445 22.49%
Without Children* 519,379 28.84% 504,448 26.35%
Female Householder, no spouse 246,537 13.69% 274,426 14.34%
With Children* 117,936 6.55% 144,347 7.54%
Without Children* 128,601 7.14% 130,079 6.80%
Male Householder, no spouse 66,517 3.69% 80,347 4.20%
With Children* 24,348 1.35% 35,901 1.88%
Without Children* 42,169 2.34% 44,446 2.32%
Non-Family Households 541,993 30.09% 624,580 32.63%
Living Alone 455,539 25.29% 519,589 27.14%
Two or More Persons 86,454 4.80% 104,991 5.48%

*In this table, children are people under age 18.

Source: Census 2000 analyzed by the Social Science Data Analysis Network (SSDAN).

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