Massachusetts

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 2,247,110 100.00% 2,443,580 100.00%
Married Couple 1,170,275 52.08% 1,197,917 49.02%
With Children* 524,207 23.33% 548,360 22.44%
Without Children* 646,068 28.75% 649,557 26.58%
Female Householder, no spouse 270,923 12.06% 289,944 11.87%
With Children* 141,911 6.32% 163,550 6.69%
Without Children* 129,012 5.74% 126,394 5.17%
Male Householder, no spouse 73,548 3.27% 88,835 3.64%
With Children* 22,986 1.02% 36,955 1.51%
Without Children* 50,562 2.25% 51,880 2.12%
Non-Family Households 732,364 32.59% 866,884 35.48%
Living Alone 580,774 25.85% 684,345 28.01%
Two or More Persons 151,590 6.75% 182,539 7.47%

*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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