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THE MANE LION - THE EVER CHANGING FAMILY

Single parent families have changed America in a huge way. These are facts about American children. The above listed information dealt with child abuse information-this deals with the way the family today as we know it is changing & has already changed. There are many things to take into consideration-you WILL have an idea of how complex our country has become regarding the "All American Family" after you read this information. I ask that you be the judge of what you read-what has happened in our country is affecting/effecting the lives of our children-of this you can be sure.

- 1 in 2 will live in a single parent family at some point in childhood.(when my father died I was 18-with a brother 14 and mother age 56-overnight we became a single parent family & it rocked our world)

- 1 in 4 lives with only one parent

- 1 in 8 is born to a teenage mother

- 1 in 25 lives with neither parent

- Between 1978 and 1996 the number of babies born to unmarried women quadrupled from 500,000 to 2 Million(The State of Americas Children-1998yearbook Childrens Defense Fund)

Some single parent statistics:

- 11.9 Million single parents in the U.S.

- 28% 20MILLION of all children in the US are under age 18 and live with one parent

- 5 Million more are over the age of 18 and live with one parent

- 84% of children who live with one parent live with their MOTHER!

- the percentage of children who live with their parents is declining among ALL races and ethnic groups.

- 32% of all births were to unmarried women in 1997

- the number of single mothers (9.8 Million) has remained constant while the number of single fathers grew 25% in three years to 2.1 million in 1998

Of Children living with one parent:

- 38% lived with a divorced parent

- 35% lived with a never married person

- 19% lived with a separated person

- 4% lived with a widowed parent

- 4% lived with a parent whose spouse lived elsewhere because of business or other reasons

These statstics are from the U.S Census Bureau-The National Center For Health Statitics-The U.S.(March 1998 supplement for Current Population Survey) U.S Census Bureau Household and Family Characteristics March 1998.

Divorce statistics on parents:

- 2 and a half million people divorce each year

- half of all marriages end in divorce

- 1 in 60 children see their parents divorce in any year

- more than half of Americans today have been-are-or will be in one more step-parent or step-sibling situation

Guardians and Foster Care:

- 1 in 24 children lives with neither parent

- 547,000 children were in foster care as of March 31,1999-A 35% increase since 1990 with 117,000 of these children waiting for permanent homes-

The number of children in foster care who are cared for by extended family (grandparents-aunts and uncles) continues to increase:

- about 6% of all children(4.1Million) are living in households with one or both grandparents

Gay-Lesbian and Unmarried partner households:

- between 6 & 10 Million children of gay. lesbian and bisexual parents currently live in the U.S.

- The number of unmarried partners households has increased by 72% from 3 Million in 1990 to 5.5 Million by 2000(These figures include both same sex & different sex couples)

These statistics and information are just a brief overview of what the family types in the United States look like. They show how millions of children are being raised by single-divorced-gay-lesbian-bisexual-adoptive parents-guardians & extended family. These statistics are from The US Census Bureau-National Center For Human Statistics-US Census Bureau March 1998 Supplement Current Population Survey and Family Characteristics March 1998.

"TBL"

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