New Castle County

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 164,161 100.00% 188,935 100.00%
Married Couple 89,040 54.24% 93,789 49.64%
With Children* 40,553 24.70% 42,740 22.62%
Without Children* 48,487 29.54% 51,049 27.02%
Female Householder, no spouse 19,833 12.08% 25,356 13.42%
With Children* 10,528 6.41% 14,589 7.72%
Without Children* 9,305 5.67% 10,767 5.70%
Male Householder, no spouse 5,635 3.43% 7,961 4.21%
With Children* 2,316 1.41% 4,071 2.15%
Without Children* 3,319 2.02% 3,890 2.06%
Non-Family Households 49,653 30.25% 61,829 32.73%
Living Alone 39,322 23.95% 48,563 25.70%
Two or More Persons 10,331 6.29% 13,266 7.02%

*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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