Most research focuses on two major causes for the growth in fatherlessness since
the early 1960's: divorce and out-of-wedlock births.

     1. Divorce

- The number of currently divorced adults quadrupled from 4.3 million in 1970 to 17.6 million in 1995.

Source: Saluter, Arlene F. "Marital Status and Living Arrangements: March 1995, Update." US Bureau of the Census. Current Population Report, PPL-52. Washington, DC: GPO, 1997.

Year  1960        1970        1980           1990           1995  
  #      390,000  708,000  1,189,000  1,182,000  1,169,000

- A recent poll found that 75% of Americans strongly agree that "children suffer when their parents divorce."

Source: Maggie Gallagher, USA Today.

Year  1960        1970        1980           1990           1995  
  #      463,000  870,000  1,174,000  1,075,000  1,052,000

- "Of the children born to married parents, half will experience their parents divorce by the age of 18."

Source: Bumpass, Larry. "Children and Marital disruption: A Replication and Update.", Demography 21 (1984): 71-82.

     2. Out-of-Wedlock Births

- 1/3 of all newborns born out-of-wedlock in 1994. Of those births, one third were to teenagers, and another third were to women aged 20 to 24.

Source: Moore, Kristin A., Angela Romano, and Cheryl Oakes. "Facts at a Glance." Child Trends, October 1996.

- The number of live births to unmarried women went from 224,300 in 1960 to 1,248,000 in 1995.

Source: U.S. Bureau of the census. Statistical Abstract of the United States 1996, 1997. Washington, DC; GPO, 1997.

 

Source: Source: U.S. Bureau of the census. Statistical Abstract of the United States 1996, 1997. Washington, DC; GPO, 1997.

- Children living with never married mothers has grown from 221,000 in 1960 to 5,862,000 in 1995.

Source: Saluter, Arlene F. Marital Status and Living Arrangements: March 1995. Current Pop. survey, PPL-52, update. Washington DC; GPO, June 1997.

 

Source: Saluter, Arlene F. Marital Status and Living Arrangements: March 1995. Current Pop. survey, PPL-52, update. Washington DC; GPO, June 1997.