California

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 10,381,206 100.00% 11,502,870 100.00%
Married Couple 5,469,522 52.69% 5,877,084 51.09%
With Children* 2,655,649 25.58% 2,989,974 25.99%
Without Children* 2,813,873 27.11% 2,887,110 25.10%
Female Householder, no spouse 1,192,180 11.48% 1,448,510 12.59%
With Children* 679,098 6.54% 834,716 7.26%
Without Children* 513,082 4.94% 613,794 5.34%
Male Householder, no spouse 477,692 4.60% 594,455 5.17%
With Children* 210,033 2.02% 292,346 2.54%
Without Children* 267,659 2.58% 302,109 2.63%
Non-Family Households 3,241,812 31.23% 3,582,821 31.15%
Living Alone 2,429,867 23.41% 2,708,308 23.54%
Two or More Persons 811,945 7.82% 874,513 7.60%

*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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