Families (Volume II, Part IV - Subject Reports)
This report presents statistics on characteristics of families as enumerated in the Eighteenth Decennial Census of Population. Most of these statistics are based on a 5-percent sample of households; however, some of the data pertaining to housing characteristics of families are based on a 5-percent or 1-percent sample. The data are presented nationally for all the characteristics, and for regions, urban and rural areas, and selected large Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas (SMSA's) and counties for some characteristics. Also, in some tables, the detail for urban areas includes national totals for families in the central cities of the combined Urbanized Areas, the urban fringe, and "other urban" areas.
This report features data on family composition and on social, economic, and housing characteristics of families in relation to the life cycle of the family, as determined by tabulations of families by age of head and by duration of marriage of the head. The life cycle patterns based on the cross-section of families in 1960 may differ somewhat from patterns based on a longitudinal study of families. Family statistics are of special interest to persons dealing with research on family structure, dependency, employment of family members, family income, housing supply, marketing, and family welfare.
Among the aspects of family composition presented are size of household, size of family, number or presence of own and other related children by age, ages of oldest and youngest children in the family, presence of adult family members (other than head and wife) by age, presence of parents and grandchildren of the family head, presence and characteristics of sub-families, number and type of nonrelatives of the head who are sharing the housing unit, and presence of adult females (who are not employed) in families with young children. Most of the tables present data for three types of families: Husband-wife families, other families with male head, and families with female head.
The social characteristics by which families are classified in this report include age and sex of head, race and color of head, country of origin of heads and wives of foreign or mixed parentage, marital status of head, whether head and wife had been married more than once, age at first marriage of head and wife, year of first marriage of head, education of head and wife and of other family members, presence of children above or below the modal educational level for their age, mobility status of head and of other family members, metropolitan or nonmetropolitan residence of head in 1955 and 1960, and whether resident of central city or fringe of urbanized area in 1960.
The economic characteristics of families shown here include labor force status of head and wife, major occupation group of head and wife, Hours Worked by head, years since wife (not in labor force) last worked, weeks worked and earnings of wife in 1959, and income of head and of family in 1959.
The housing characteristics of primary families and primary individuals shown include tenure, number of units in structure, year the unit was built, plumbing facilities, value or rent of housing unit as a percent of family income, presence of several specific types of housing durables, and presence and use of automobile.
Complete-count statistics on the number of households, primary families, primary individuals, and persons by relationship to household head are presented for States, their urban and rural parts, counties, Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas, Urbanized Areas, and urban places of 10,000 or more in chapter B of Volume I, Characteristics of the Population, and for census tracts in the Series PHC(1) reports. Chapter B of Volume I also includes complete- count statistics on the number of households for places of 1,000 to 10,000 and minor civil divisions. For States and the rural-farm population of counties, statistics on the number of households and persons by relationship to household head, based on the 25-percent sample, are presented in chapter C of Volume I. Chapter D of Volume I presents 25-percent sample statistics on households by age of head and persons by age and relationship to household head.
Statistics on families and married couples by presence of children and on unrelated individuals, based on the 25-percent sample, are presented for States and their urban and rural parts, counties, Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas, Urbanized Areas, and urban places of 10,000 or more in chapter C of Volume I, and for census tracts in the Series PHC(1) reports. Chapter D of Volume I presents 25-percent sample statistics on families by age of head, number of children, size of family, number of adult members other than head or wife, marital status of head, education and occupation of head, number of members in the labor force, and family income, and statistics on unrelated individuals by age, marital status, and income, for States and their urban and rural parts and large Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas.
Several of the other reports in Series PC(2) and PC.(3) contain additional information on households and families. Statistics on the characteristics of occupied housing units are presented in reports of the 1960 Census of Housing.
Statistics on the number of households, families, married couples, and unrelated individuals for States, their urban and rural parts, counties, standard metropolitan areas, Urbanized Areas, and urban places of 10,000 or more were presented in Volume II, Characteristics of the Population; data on the same subjects are presented in Volume III, Census Tract Statistics. Volume II also presented statistics by age on married couples and persons by relationship to household head for States and their urban and rural parts and large standard metropolitan areas, and statistics on families and unrelated individuals by income for States, their urban and rural parts, counties, standard metropolitan areas, Urbanized Areas, and urban places of 2,500 or more.
Volume IV, Special Reports, Part 2, chapter A, entitled "General Characteristics of Families," presented statistics from the 1950 Census on families by age of head, number of children, marital status of head, size of family, and age and labor force status of wife for regions, States and their urban and rural parts, and large cities and standard metropolitan areas; and statistics by regions on families by Mobility Status, education, class of worker, occupation, industry, and income of head, and by family income. Detailed statistics on the family status of persons, by marital status, were presented in Volume IV, Part 2, chapter D, "Marital Status." Additional information on family subjects was presented in other reports in Volume IV.
There were eight reports on families from the 1940 Census, covering social, economic, and housing characteristics for the United States, regions, and States. Volume VI of the 1930 Census of Population, entitled Families, provided data for similar areas on many of the same subjects shown in the present report.
Availability of Unpublished Data
The data shown in the present report represent the full detail printed out by the computer system. The detail shown for the United States was tabulated separately for each State and was stored on magnetic tape but not printed out. Inquiries concerning unpublished data should be transmitted to the Bureau as soon as possible because tape files are not maintained indefinitely. Requests for unpublished data, giving a specific description of the figures desired, may be made by writing to the Chief, Population Division, Bureau of the Census, Washington, D.C., 20233.
