Important Facts for Utah Population Characteristics: Household Structure

Definition

Percentage of households by family type and presence of children.

Numerator

Number of households in each family type and presence of children group.

Denominator

Total number of households.

Why Is This Important?

The number of parents living with a child helps to determine the human and economic resources available to that child. Children who live with one parent are more likely to live in poverty than are children who grow up in households with two adults. Single parents also face specific challenges including lack of leisure time, increased need for child care, and stressed financial resources.

How Are We Doing?

Non-family households (either a householder living alone or with other, unrelated, persons) constituted less than a quarter (24.8%) of Utah households in the 2010 decennial census; the 2021 American Community Survey (ACS) estimate was 28.2%. In 2010, of all Utah households, 7.8% were single householders with children; the 2021 ACS estimate was 6.1%.

How Do We Compare With the U.S.?

In 2000, 63.2% of Utah households included a married couple, either with or without children, the 2021 ACS now estimates this proportion to be 59.3%. In 2000, the U.S. estimate was 51.7%; by 2021 this had fallen to 47.3%. When we examine married couple households in Utah we see that in 2000, 55.4% of these households had children under 18.^1^ By 2021 this percentage had fallen to 28.4%.^2^ The estimate for this type of household in the U.S. was 45.5% in 2000,^1^ and has since fallen to 17.9%^2^ according to 2021 ACS table CP-02 1-year estimates.[[br]] [[br]] ---- 1. Calculated by dividing percentage of married couple households with children (48% for Utah; 37% for U.S.) into the percentage of total married couple households (63.2% for Utah; 51.7% for U.S.) for 2000..[[br]] 2. Calculated by dividing percentage of married couple households with children (28.4% for Utah; 17.9% for U.S.) into the percentage of total married couple households (59.3% for Utah; 47.3% for U.S.) for 2021.