What does this measure?

The percentage of single-parent families with children, as a percent of all families with children under 18, broken down by the sex of the parent.

Why is this important?

Single-parent families may experience more stress and economic strain than dual-parent households with two incomes. Children in these families can be at risk of poorer health and educational outcomes. However, children may also have opportunities to build resilience and experience a larger community through the support of extended family and friends.

How is our county doing?

In Essex County, 34% of all families with children under 18 were headed by single parents in 2020-24; of these, 26% were headed by a female and 8% were headed by a male. These proportions increased slightly since 2010-14 for males and decreased slightly for females. In raw numbers, Essex saw an decrease of about 480 single parents during this period. In 2020-24, the number of female-headed single-parent families, 24,000, was over three times as high as the number of male-headed single-parent families, 7,800. The County's rates were similar to the state and nation.

How do we compare to similar counties?

In 2020-24, Essex County had a higher share of single-parent families with children compared to Middlesex, MA (23%), Lake, IL (26%) and Westchester, NY (27%). In particular, there were smaller percentages of single-parent families headed by females in all three comparison counties (between 16% and 20%).

Notes about the data

The multiyear figures are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. The bureau combined 5 years of responses to the survey to provide estimates for smaller geographic areas and increase the precision of its estimates. However, because the information came from a survey, the samples responding to the survey were not always large enough to produce reliable results, especially in small geographic areas. CGR has noted on data tables the estimates with relatively large margins of error. Estimates with three asterisks have the largest margins, plus or minus 50% or more of the estimate. Two asterisks mean plus or minus 35%-50%, and one asterisk means plus or minus 20%-35%. For all estimates, the confidence level is 90%, meaning there is 90% probability the true value (if the whole population were surveyed) would be within the margin of error (or confidence interval). The survey provides data on characteristics of the population that used to be collected only during the decennial census.