## WOMEN WHO MAINTAIN FAMILIES

#### June 1993

Most women with children have husbands who contribute to the family income
and share family responsibilities.  Some women, however, maintain families
without husbands and are the sole or principal earners in these families.  By
definition, a family maintained by a woman (female-headed family) consists of
two or more persons residing together who are related by birth, marriage, or
adoption, where the householder (the person in whose name the home is owned,
being bought, or rented) is a woman without a spouse present.  In addition to
families maintained by women where children are present, there are families
maintained by women in which other related persons (parents, grandparents,
aunts, uncles, and in-laws) reside, regardless of the presence of children.

There were 12 million families maintained by women in the United States in
1992--a figure that has more than doubled since 1970 when there were only 5.6
million such families.  This rise reflects the increasing incidence of divorces,
heightened marital separations, and the increasing number of women establishing
families without marrying.  Because of these occurrences, these families have
become the focal point of policymakers in recent years.

### **Families Maintained by Women, by Race**

The number of families maintained by women increased throughout the 1980's. 
Single-parent families--families with only one parent residing in the
household--are continuing to become a larger segment of all families.  This is
especially true for those families maintained by women.  They accounted for 14.8
percent of all families in 1980 and 17.6 percent in 1992.

In 1992, 7.1 million families with children under age 18 were maintained by
women.  Of these families, 64 percent were white, 33 percent were black, and 12
percent were of Hispanic origin.1  Only 1.4 million families with children under
age 18 were maintained by men.

Three and one-half million black families were maintained by women in 1992. 
This represented nearly half (47 percent) of all black families in the United
States.  Of 57 million white families, 7.8 million were maintained by women;
however, this accounted for only 14 percent of all white families.  One out of
every four Hispanic-origin families was maintained by a woman.  Sixty-nine
percent of female-maintained Hispanic-origin families had children under age 18
as compared with 66 percent of black and 58 percent of white families.

_______

1Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race.  Figures will not add to 100
percent because Hispanics are included in both the white and black population
groups.

### **Families Maintained by Women with Children**

Because of the absence of a husband or a second earner, women who maintain
families are very active in the labor force.  Results of the Bureau of Labor
Statistics' March 1992 Current Population Survey revealed that single (never
married) women with children under age 18 participated at a rate of 52.5
percent; widowed mothers, 61.4 percent; married mothers with absent spouses,
63.7 percent; and divorced mothers, 80.3 percent.

Not only were these mothers apt to be labor force participants, they were
full-time workers in most cases.   Regardless of marital status (never married;
married, spouse present; separated; divorced; and widowed), nearly 75 percent of
employed women who maintained families with children under 18 worked full time. 
In addition, as their children became teenagers, 80 percent of these employed
mothers worked full time.

Women who maintain families with children under age 18 usually experience
significantly higher unemployment than do wives in married-couple families with
children under age 18.  In March 1992 unemployment for women who maintained
families with children was 11.8 percent--twice that of wives in married-couple
families with children under 18.

### **Income and Earnings of Families Maintained by Women**

Families maintained by women had the lowest median income of all family
types in 1991--$16,692--when compared with $40,995 for married-couple families
and $28,351 for families maintained by men.  [Incomeis the sum of the
amounts received from wages and salaries, self-employment income (including
losses), social security, supplemental security income, public assistance,
interest, dividends, rent, royalties, estates or trusts, veteran's payments,
unemployment and worker's compensation, private and government retirement and
disability pensions, alimony, child support, and any other source of money
income which is regularly received.]  Wages and salaries usually make up the
largest portion of one's income.  In 1991 white families maintained by women had
a median income of $19,547; for similar black families, $11,414; and for
comparable Hispanic-origin families, $12,132.

In 1992 women who maintained families also had lower median weekly earnings
than other single-earner families.  These women did, however, earn more than
wives in married-couple families where the wife was the sole earner.  [Earnings include total money wages or salary received for work performed as an
employee.  It includes wages, salary, Armed Forces pay, commissions, tips,
piece-rate payments, and cash bonuses earned before deductions have been made
for taxes, bonds, pensions, union dues, etc.]

### Women Who Maintain Families in Poverty2

Women who maintain families, especially those with children under age 18,
have more serious socioeconomic problems than other women in the population. 
Some of these problems include higher unemployment and lower average educational
attainment.  There is also a higher proportion of families maintained by women
who have children to rear (68.3 percent), as compared with married-couple
families (48.3 percent).

These reasons help explain women's high incidence of poverty and are a major
reason they have become a larger portion of families below the poverty level. 
Responsibilities for the care of children, especially of very young children,
restrict employment and earning opportunities for many women.

The incidence of poverty among female-headed families has, historically,
been very high.  During the early 1980's, married-couple families comprised
slightly more than one-half of all families below the poverty level.  This trend
started to shift in 1985, with families maintained by women becoming the
dominant group; and by 1989, 52 percent of all families below the poverty level
(3.5 million out of 6.8 million) were maintained by women.  These 3.5 million
families included nearly 7 million related children.

Children are overrepresented among the poverty population, while the elderly
are slightly underrepresented.  Children under 18 years comprised 40.2 percent
of the poor and 23.9 percent of the nonpoor, while the elderly were 10.6 percent
of the poor and 12.4 percent of the non-poor.  These two groups
combined--children under 18 years and the elderly--represent half of the
Nation's poor population.

_______

2The poverty definition used by the Federal government consists of a set of
money income thresholds that vary by family size and composition and are updated
every year to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index.

The total number of families maintained by women below the poverty level has
increased from 3.0 million in 1980 to 4.2 million in 1991.  Persons in families
maintained by women continue to constitute a major portion of those below the
poverty level--approximately 39 percent in 1991.  During the 1980's, the poverty
rate for families maintained by white women has remained stable.  While the
rates rose substantially for black and Hispanic-origin female headed families in
the early 1980's, their rates started receding in the mid 1980's.  By 1991,
however, their rates started to increase again.

Women in poverty are more likely than men to live in a family in which no
spouse is present.  The number of families maintained by women below the poverty
level in 1991 was 10 times as high as those maintained by men (4.2 million as
compared with 393,000).  The 1991 poverty rate among female-headed families
(35.6 percent) was much higher than that of male headed families, no wife
present (13.0 percent), or married-couple families  (6.0 percent).

The number of poor families increased by 1.5 million between 1980 and 1991,
from 6.2 million to 7.7 million.  Poor families maintained by women accounted
for 80 percent of this increase.  Families maintained by women represented 48
percent of all poor families in 1980 and 54 percent of poor families in 1991.

The problems faced by poor families are quite extensive, especially for
those maintained by an unmarried young mother.  She is unlikely to earn enough
on her own to keep herself and her children out of poverty.  In the policy
statement A Proper Inheritance:	 Investing in the Self-Sufficiency of Poor
Families, authors Levitan, Mangum, and Pines, conclude that if she sets up her
own household, she will likely receive welfare and may well become dependent
upon it for many years and probably will have more children.3  In 1991 the
poverty threshold for a family of three persons, where two of the family members
were children, was $10,973.

Of the 2 million poor female-headed families with children in 1986, 79
percent of these mothers received no assistance from the child's father; 37
percent had their first child as a teenager; 34 percent were unemployed
themselves; and 9 percent faced all three of these dilemmas.4

The responsibilities of raising young children are most likely to hinder or
postpone the educational opportunities of teenage mothers.  Some may never
complete high school.  Teenage pregnancy is one of the greatest causes of
dropping out of school for young women.  Also, teenage mothers who have low
career motivation are more likely

_______

3Levitan, Sar A., Garth L. Mangum and Marion W. Pines.  A Proper
Inheritance:  Investing in the Self-Sufficiency of Poor Families,	   
(June 1989).

4Sawhill, Isabel V., "What About America's Underclass?" Challenge,
(May-June 1988).

to marry early, drop out of school, and have a greater number of children at
an earlier age.  Those who are	motivated to have careers tend to stay single
longer, remain at home with their parents longer, attain a higher level of
education, have fewer subsequent pregnancies, become more employable, and less
dependent on welfare.

The majority of women who maintain families were employed in 1992--56
percent.  Whether widowed, never married, or married with an absent spouse,
women in female-headed families follow similar employment patterns.  Most are
working in the technical, sales, and administrative support occupations, mainly
as secretaries, typists, retail and personal sales workers, and financial
records processors.  Many work in such occupations as food service, health
service, and cleaning and building service jobs.

Divorced female family heads are the exception.  At least one of every four
employed divorced female householders was working in managerial and professional
specialty occupations.  Higher educational attainment of divorced women is one
reason for their eagerness to secure managerial and professional jobs.  Divorced
women have completed more years of schooling than other female family heads. 
Divorced women have completed 12.7 years of schooling compared with 12.4 years
for single and separated female family heads, and 12.1 years for widowed family
heads.

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