Two-Parent Families Declining in Major U.S. Cities, Study Finds

Traditional two-parent families are becoming increasingly scarce in many large American cities, with fewer than a quarter of households with children headed by married couples in some neighborhoods, according to a new report from the Institute for Family Studies (IFS). The study reveals a stark contrast between urban "marriage deserts" and suburban "marriage gardens," with a variation of approximately 70 percentage points in the share of households headed by married couples across the areas examined.

The analysis, which utilized 2020 Census data, found that suburban communities generally exhibit higher marriage rates compared to major urban centers. This divergence raises questions about the influence of neighborhood family structures on children's opportunities for upward mobility. Researchers pointed to work by Harvard economist Raj Chetty, which identified the presence of two-parent homes as a strong predictor of a community's upward economic mobility.

"This does not appear to describe small variations around shared national norms, but rather two distinct family-formation regimes, so stark it could even be described as family structure polarization," the IFS report stated. Children growing up in areas with a high prevalence of married parents, or "married-family gardens," tend to observe marriage as a stable and ordinary aspect of adult life. Conversely, in "married-family deserts," children may experience greater instability in adult relationships and less consistent supervision.

Areas with some of the lowest rates of married-parent households include eastern Cleveland and nearby Bratenahl Village, Ohio, where only 18% of households with children are headed by married couples. Eastern Washington, D.C., followed with 20%, and central Milwaukee with 22%.

In contrast, suburban regions like Fremont City, California, Lakewood, New Jersey, and parts of Utah County, Utah, reported rates as high as 89% for households with children headed by married couples. Suburban Dallas-Fort Worth was identified as the nation's largest grouped "marriage garden." Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, however, constitute the largest grouped "marriage desert," encompassing nearly 686,000 households, more than two-thirds of which are unmarried.

Ken Burchfiel, a research fellow at the Institute for Family Studies, suggested that factors beyond financial stability influence the decision to marry. "It’s clear that the decision to get married is not just due to financial concerns; it's also a matter of culture and, admittedly, perhaps a matter of affordability," Burchfiel said. He noted that even in high-income urban areas, the cost of living can make raising a family challenging.

The study also highlighted that high incomes do not necessarily correlate with higher marriage rates. In affluent Manhattan neighborhoods, fewer than 28% of householders ages 15 to 64 are married.

Burchfiel advised couples considering where to settle down to examine these family structure patterns alongside job markets and their personal circumstances, such as proximity to extended family. "Living near other married couples can be really useful when you're settling down and raising a family," he commented.