For decades, the share of U.Due south. children living with a single parent has been rising, accompanied by a decline in marriage rates and a rise in births outside of spousal relationship. A new Pew Enquiry Center written report of 130 countries and territories shows that the U.S. has the world's highest rate of children living in single-parent households.

Almost a quarter of U.S. children under the age of eighteen live with one parent and no other adults (23%), more than than three times the share of children around the earth who practise so (7%). The study, which analyzed how people's living arrangements differ by religion, also found that U.Southward. children from Christian and religiously unaffiliated families are about equally likely to alive in this type of system.

In comparing, iii% of children in Red china, 4% of children in Nigeria and 5% of children in India live in single-parent households. In neighboring Canada, the share is 15%.

About a quarter of U.S. children live in single-parent homes, more than in any other country

While U.South. children are more likely than children elsewhere to live in single-parent households, they're much less probable to alive in extended families. In the U.S., 8% of children alive with relatives such as aunts and grandparents, compared with 38% of children globally.

Researchers accept dissimilar ways of categorizing single-parent households. In this report, single-parent households take a sole developed living with at least one biological, step or foster child under age eighteen. Some other organizations, including the U.S Census Bureau, also include households that have grandparents, other relatives or cohabiting partners present.

Economic well-being a cistron in household size

Around the world, living in extended families is linked with lower levels of economic evolution: Fiscal resources stretch further and domestic chores such as childcare are more hands accomplished when shared among several adults living together.

The U.S., like other economically advanced countries, particularly in Europe and northern Asia, has relatively pocket-sized households overall. The average person in the U.South. lives in a home of 3.four people – which is less than the global boilerplate of iv.9, but slightly college than the European average of three.one. In the U.S., Christians (3.4), the unaffiliated (3.2) and Jews (3.0) live with roughly the same number of household members.

However, household sizes vary by age – the boilerplate U.Southward. kid under 18 lives in a household of 4.6 members, while the boilerplate developed age 60 or older only lives with one other person.

In early on adulthood, Americans continue to live with their parents at relatively loftier rates. Adult child households business relationship for 20% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 34. (Developed child households are defined every bit at least ane parent living with ane son or daughter 18 or older and no pocket-size children or other family members.) Young adults in the U.S. are similar to their Canadian counterparts in this regard, and Due north America has a higher share of young adults who alive in this arrangement than any other region.

U.S. differs in living arrangements for older adults

Americans also differ from others effectually in the earth in their living arrangements after historic period threescore. Older adults in the U.S. are more likely than those around the world to age lonely: More than than a quarter of Americans ages 60 and older live solitary (27%), compared with a global average of 16%. At that place are only xiv countries with college shares of older adults living alone, and all are in Europe. They include Republic of lithuania (41%), Kingdom of denmark (39%) and Hungary (37%).

The about common arrangement for older U.S. adults, withal, is to live as a couple without whatsoever other children or relatives. Nearly one-half of U.South. adults ages 60 and older alive in such households (46%), compared with a global boilerplate of 31%. Conversely, older Americans are much less likely to alive with a wider circle of relatives. Merely vi% of older U.Due south. adults live in extended-family households, compared with 38% of adults ages 60 and older globally.

Globally, 38% live in extended-family homes, but in the U.S. only 11% do

Living in smaller households afterwards historic period threescore is often tied to national rates of economical prosperity and life expectancy. Older adults are more probable to alive alone or as couples in countries where an average person can await to live more than 70 years. In countries where lives are shorter, adults lx and older tend to live with other family unit members instead. Life expectancy is often linked to other markers of prosperity within a state, then older adults who tin can expect to live into their 80s also tend to live in countries where living alone is more than affordable.

And in countries where governments provide fewer retirement benefits or other safe nets, families often confront greater responsibility to support aging relatives. Cultural norms also play a office, and, in many parts of the globe, it is expected that developed children will intendance for their aging parents.

Despite these many differences, U.Due south. household patterns are as well like to those in other countries in some ways, and a few of these commonalities are tied to gender.

Women ages 35 to 59 in the U.S., for example, are more likely than men in the same age group to alive every bit single parents (ix% vs. ii%), a pattern mirrored in every region and religious grouping effectually the world.

And women, on average, are younger than their husbands or male cohabiting partners in every country analyzed. That age gap is 2.2 years in the U.S. and in the rest of the world ranges from 2 years in the Czech Republic to fourteen.five years in Gambia. Within the U.S., Jewish partners are closest in age, with simply one year betwixt them, while Christians and the unaffiliated have an equal gap (2.two years).

Coupled with women's longer life expectancy, this tendency helps explain some of the differences in how older men and women in the U.S. live.

More than half of U.Due south. men ages 60 and older (55%) live with a partner and no i else, while roughly four-in-ten women (39%) practice. And almost a third of women ages 60 and older alive solitary (32%), while this is truthful of 1-in-five men in the same historic period group (xx%).

Notation: See full methodology.

Stephanie Kramer is a senior researcher focusing on religion at Pew Research Center.