Essex 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 251,285 100.00% 275,419 100.00%
Married Couple 135,749 54.02% 140,631 51.06%
With Children* 60,648 24.14% 65,898 23.93%
Without Children* 75,101 29.89% 74,733 27.13%
Female Householder, no spouse 31,228 12.43% 34,025 12.35%
With Children* 17,165 6.83% 19,936 7.24%
Without Children* 14,063 5.60% 14,089 5.12%
Male Householder, no spouse 8,355 3.32% 10,438 3.79%
With Children* 2,703 1.08% 4,553 1.65%
Without Children* 5,652 2.25% 5,885 2.14%
Non-Family Households 75,953 30.23% 90,325 32.80%
Living Alone 63,272 25.18% 74,628 27.10%
Two or More Persons 12,681 5.05% 15,697 5.70%

*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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