Recently Divorced Adults with Resident Minor Children, 2022
Family Profile No. 13, 2024
Author: Corrine E. Wiborg
This profile is an update of
FP-20-07 & FP-16-11.
After reaching a 40-year low for two consecutive years (2020 and 2021 at 14.0 divorces per 1,000 married women), divorce rates have risen slightly in 2022 to 14.6 divorces per 1,000 married women (FP-23-24). Among recently divorced individuals, many may be parents with resident children. Using the American Community Survey (ACS) data from 2022, we estimate whether minor children (either biological, stepchildren, or adopted) are present in the household among recently divorced (within the last year) parents aged 18-55. Currently, the ACS does not capture divorced individuals with nonresident children and thus these figures underestimate the percentage of recently divorced individuals who have minor children. We first present comparisons of recently divorced parents to their counterparts, namely, married parents who did not experience a divorce in the last year. Additionally, we investigate the prevalence of minor children among recently divorced individuals by race/ethnicity, educational attainment, and age of the child.
Household Presence of Minor Children – Differences between Recently Divorced Individuals and Currently Married Individuals
Throughout the last decade (2012-2022), the share of recently divorced adults with minor children in the household has been stable, ranging from 40% in 2012 to 41% 2022 with the largest decline in 2020 at 39% (not shown).
- The share of recently divorced adults with minor children was larger among women than men. Over half (52%) of recently divorced women compared to less than one- third (30%) of recently divorced men had at least one minor child in their household (not shown).
- Among married parents, 61% had at least one minor child in the household.
Figure 1. Percentage of Adults 18-55 Reporting Minor Children in the Household, Recently Divorced and Currently Married
Minor Children’s Age Variation—Difference between Recently Divorced Individuals and Currently Married Individuals
Figure 2. Percentage of Minor Children’s Age Variation, by Marital Status
- Comparing recently divorced and currently married parents with a minor child in their household, there was variation in the age composition of their children.
- Over half (63%) of recently divorced parents had only a child[ren] between the ages of six to 17 compared to 55% of those currently married.
- Similar shares of recently divorced parents had children both under the age of six and between the ages of six to 17 (21%) compared to those currently married (22%).
- For both, recently divorced parents and currently married parents having a minor child under the age of six contributed to the smallest share for both groups (16% and 23%, respectively).
Racial and Ethnic Variation in the Presence of Minor Children among Recently Divorced Individuals
- There was slight racial/ethnic variation in the share of individuals who had recently divorced and had minor children in the household.
- Hispanic recently divorced individuals reported the highest prevalence of minor children in their household (43%) whereas Asian individuals reported the lowest share (36%).
- White recently divorced individuals reported the second highest share of minor children in their household (42%), followed by Other racial/ethnic parents (41%), and Black parents (40%).
Figure 3. Percentage of Recently Divorced Individuals Reporting Minor Children in their Household, by Race/Ethnicity
Educational Attainment Variation in the Presence of Minor Children among Recently Divorced Individuals
Figure 4. Percentage of Recently Divorced Individuals Reporting Minor Children in their Household, by Educational Attainment
- There was also slight variation in educational attainment among recently divorced individuals with minor children in their household.
- Recently divorced individuals with at least some college and those with a master’s degree or more had the largest shares with a minor child in the household (45%).
- Following closely behind at 42% were those with a bachelor’s degree.
- The smallest share of recently divorced individuals with a minor child in the household was among those with a high school diploma/GED (28%) and those with less than a high school degree (36%).
Data Source:
Ruggles, S., Flood, S., Sobek, M., Backman, D., Chen, A., Cooper, G., Richards, S., Rodgers, R., & Schouweiler, M. (2023). IPUMS USA: Version 14.0 (14.0) American Community Survey. Minneapolis, MN: IPUMS. https://doi.org/10.18128/D010.V14.0
References:
Eickmeyer, K. J. (2016). Recently divorced adults with resident minor children. Family Profiles, FP-16-11. Bowling Green, OH: National Center for Family & Marriage Research. http://www.bgsu.edu/ncfmr/resources/data/family-profiles/eickmeyer-recently-divorced-adults-resident-child-fp-16-11.html
Loo, J. (2023). Divorce rate in the U.S.: Geographic variation, 2022. Family Profiles, FP-23-24. Bowling Green, OH: National Center for Family & Marriage Research. https://doi.org/10.25035/ncfmr/fp-23-24
Schweizer, V. (2020). Recently divorced adults with resident minor children, 2018. Family Profiles, FP-20-07. Bowling Green, OH: National Center for Family & Marriage Research. https://doi.org/10.25035/ncfmr/fp-20-07
Suggested Citation:
Wiborg, C. E. (2024). Recently divorced adults with resident minor children, 2022. Family Profiles, FP-24-13. Bowling Green, OH: National Center for Family & Marriage Research. https://doi.org/10.25035/ncfmr/fp-24-13
This project is supported with assistance from Bowling Green State University. From 2007 to 2013, support was also provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are solely those of the author(s) and should not be construed as representing the opinions or policy of any agency of the state or federal government.
Updated: 09/03/2024 11:00AM