Fewer Americans married with children - Census Bureau statistics show that married people with children account for 25% of American households

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), April, 1997

The latest Census Bureau figures indicate that baby boomers finally are settling down after two decades of social revolution that saw American families undergo dramatic changes. The number of married couples with children is continuing to drop, but the decline has slowed since 1990. "It seems that things have plateaued," notes Census statistician Ken Bryson.

The 1970s marked the biggest change in families and households, a time when the first of the post-World War II baby boomers were reaching adulthood. "That decade was much more likely than now to be a decade of substantial tumult of various kinds," Bryson suggests. The change continued into the 1980s, but has lessened since 1990.

Married couples with children now make up just over 25% of all households, about the same share as single people living alone. Married couples' share of households dropped from 40.3% in 1970 to 26.3% in 1990 and was 25.5% in 195, a change attributed to the increasing number of divorces and single-parent households.

Over all, families made up 70% of America's 98,900,000 households in 1995, the Census report found. While that's down from 81.2% in 1970, most of the change occurred in the first 20 years. The figure was 70.8% in 1990.

"I wouldn't expect tremendous change until another 10 years from now when baby boom children will be mostly off to college and the oldest [boomers] start to think about early retirement," predicts Carol De Vita of the Population Reference Bureau.

The number of households with just one person grew from 17.1% of all households in 1970 to 24.6% in 1990 and25% in 1995. Nearly half of the women living alone were 65 or older, while 44% were widows. In contrast, nearly three-fourths of men living alone were 25 to 64 and half never had married.

The Census Bureau also found:

* Married couples without children declined from 30.3% of households in 1970 to 29.8% in 1980 and 28.9% in 1995.

* Other families with children grew from five percent in 1970 to 8.3% in 1990 and 9.1% in 1995. These include single parents with children.

* Other families without children grew from 5.6% in 1970 to 6.5% in 190 and remained at that level in 1995. This includes such families as brothers and/or sisters living together.

* Other nonfamily households, such as roommates and friends living together, were 1.7% in 1970, grew to 4.5% in 190, and reached five percent in 1995.