Blended Family Statistics
Current estimates suggest:
 60% of all remarriages eventually end in
legal
divorce. Untold others will experience emotional divorce and unsatisfying
relationships.
About 75% of divorced persons eventually
remarry.
About 43% of all marriages are
remarriages
for at least one of the adults.
About 65% of remarriages involve children
from the prior marriage and form blended families.
Information from the most recent Vital
Statistics Report shows:
Of American children under 18 years of
age:
52.1%
live with two parents
26.3% live with only their biological
mother
5.4% live with only their biological
father
3.0% live with other relatives
1.2% live with non-relatives
There are no recent estimates on
the percentage of children
residing in blended families.
These statistics underestimate the number
of U.S. blended families, because...
To date, government reporting of population
figures indicate
families in which the child resides. So if the
child lives with a divorced, single parent and the other
nonresident parent has remarried, the child is not included in the
calculations as being a member of a blended family.
Estimates suggest that
many children
living in a "single parent household" (as designated by
the Census Bureau) are actually living with two adults. Thus,
their best estimates indicate that about 25% of current
blended families are actually cohabiting couples.
They show that if only children residing
in legally married blended families are included, 23% of children
would be designated as living in a stepfamily.
When children are included who live with
a cohabiting parent, the figure rises dramatically.
They suggest that 2/3rds of all women,
and 37% of all children, are likely to spend some time in a
stepfamily, using the more liberal definition that includes
cohabiting adult couples.
Other information
One of three Americans is now a
stepparent, a stepchild, a stepsibling, or some other member of
a blended family
More than half of Americans today have
been, are now or will eventually be in one or more step
situations during their lives
The most common stepfamilies where
children reside are stepfather families or combined
stepfather-stepmother families. In this latter case, his
children from the prior marriage typically do not reside in the
blended family
By 2010
blended families are
projected be the predominant family form in the U.S.
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