SIZE

Most families maintained by female householders are not very large. Almost three-quarters of such families (73 percent) consisted of no more than two or three people. As of 1979, the average number of family members was 3.08 persons, down from 3.22 persons in 1970 (table 11).

There are, of course, some racial and ethnic differentials in average family size. For example, families maintained by Black women in 1979 were larger on the average (3.63 persons) than those maintained by either Spanish-origin women (3.30 persons) or White women (2.86 persons).

NUMBER OF CHILDREN

Families maintained by women in 1979 were more likely to include children than were their 1970 counterparts. The rate of increase since 1970 in the number of families comprised of a mother and one or more children has been about 81 percent as compared with a 51-percent increase in the overall number of women maintaining families (table 12). Contrary to the stereotype of a mother who has been abandoned to fend for herself and her numerous offspring, families maintained by women, if they had any children at all, were likely to include only one or two children. These one-child and two-child families have more than doubled in number since 1970. As of 1979, about 28 percent of all women maintaining families had one child and 20 percent had two, whereas 9 percent had three and only 5 percent had 4 or more children; the other 38 percent had either never had any children or their children were living elsewhere.

The average number of children in families of female householders with children in 1979 was down to 1.86 from the average of 2.29 in 1970. The averages were somewhat higher in Black and Spanish-origin families than in White families in both years.

The total number of children under 18 living in families maintained by women in 1979 was 9.8 million. About 2.4 million of these children were under 6 years of age and the remaining 7.4 million children were 6 to 17 years of age. It should be noted that these numbers do not include every child living in a one-parent situation. A relatively small, but nevertheless significant, number of children living with one parent were either with mothers who were not the person responsible for maintaining the household (about 700,000 children), or else they lived with their father instead of their mother (about 1.0 million children, or 9 percent of all those living with one parent).

AGE OF CHILDREN

Since most women with children at home are under age 45, the data in this section refer only to women in that age category. In 1979, there were just over 1 million families maintained by such women which contained only children under age 6, and an additional 861,000 families which had both children under 6 and some 6 to 17 (table 13).

All women with responsibility for the care and custody of their children (i.e., no husband present) face special, and sometimes debilitating, problems. However, when these families include very young children, it may be especially difficult for the woman to enter the work force on a full-time or even part-time basis, unless she is able to find acceptable day-care services for her preschool children. The number of families maintained by women with only children under age 6 has doubled since 1970, and the rate of increase for this type of family was much greater than the overall rate of increase in the number of families maintained by women.

There were about 2.4 million families maintained by women which included only children of school age (6 to 17 years old). The women maintaining these families must cope with economic realities and the needs of their older children

which are no less urgent than those difficulties faced by women with younger children. These mothers are, however, relieved of some of the constant child-care requirements implicit during infancy and early childhood. Mothers who are responsible only for school-age children are seemingly in an improved position to shift their focus from the immediacy of daily child care to childrearing processes which may consume less of the mothers' time. In any event, once all the children are in school, the woman may feel that she can seek employment outside the home at least on a part-time basis without jeopardizing the care required by her children.

TENURE

Families maintained by female householders were much more likely than families in general to be in rented housing. Whereas 25 percent of all families were renters, the proportion of female householders (no husband present) who were

renters was 50 percent. About 8 percent of female householders were not only renters but were renting public housing, as compared with 2 percent of all families (table 14). The highest proportion of renters was among the women under age 25. Whereas 86 percent of those under 25 were renters, the proportion declined among older women to the point that only 21 percent of those age 75 and over were renters.

Black and Spanish-origin women maintaining families were far more likely than their White counterparts not only to be renters, but also the renters of public housing. The proportions renting were 66 percent for Black women and 72 percent for Spanish-origin women, as compared with 43 percent for White women. Similarly, the proportions renting public housing were 19 percent for Black women, 9 percent for Spanish-origin women, and 3 percent for White women maintaining families.