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Washington

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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 1,872,431 100.00% 2,271,398 100.00%
Married Couple 1,029,267 54.97% 1,181,995 52.04%
With Children* 475,264 25.38% 541,636 23.85%
Without Children* 554,003 29.59% 640,359 28.19%
Female Householder, no spouse 175,522 9.37% 224,618 9.89%
With Children* 115,430 6.16% 146,920 6.47%
Without Children* 60,092 3.21% 77,698 3.42%
Male Householder, no spouse 60,145 3.21% 92,514 4.07%
With Children* 32,334 1.73% 53,925 2.37%
Without Children* 27,811 1.49% 38,589 1.70%
Non-Family Households 607,497 32.44% 772,271 34.00%
Living Alone 476,320 25.44% 594,325 26.17%
Two or More Persons 131,177 7.01% 177,946 7.83%

*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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