For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Thursday, April 20, 2017                       USDL-17-0444

Technical information: (202) 691-6378 * cpsinfo@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/cps
Media contact:         (202) 691-5902 * PressOffice@bls.gov


                       EMPLOYMENT CHARACTERISTICS OF FAMILIES -- 2016


In 2016, 6.5 percent of families included an unemployed person, down from 6.9 percent in
2015, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Of the nation's 82.1 million
families, 80.4 percent had at least one employed member in 2016.

These data on employment, unemployment, and family relationships are collected as part
of the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly survey of about 60,000 households.
Data in this release are annual averages. Families are classified either as married-
couple families or as families maintained by women or men without spouses present.
Unless otherwise noted, families include those without children as well as those with
children under age 18. For further information, see the Technical Note in this news
release.

Families and Unemployment

The number of families with at least one member unemployed decreased by 314,000 to 5.3
million in 2016. The proportion of families with an unemployed person declined by 0.4
percentage point to 6.5 percent. Black and Hispanic families remained more likely to
have an unemployed member in 2016 (10.9 percent and 8.7 percent, respectively) than
White or Asian families (5.7 percent and 5.6 percent, respectively). This proportion
is down over the year for White, Black, and Hispanic families. (See table 1.)

Just over two-thirds (69.0 percent) of families with an unemployed member also had at
least one family member who was employed in 2016, and 59.7 percent had at least one
family member who was working full time. Both measures are up over the year. In 2016,
Black families with an unemployed member remained less likely to also have an employed
family member (57.8 percent) than White (72.3 percent), Asian (76.9 percent), or
Hispanic families (72.6 percent). (See table 1.)

In 2016, 3.1 million married-couple families had an unemployed member (5.2 percent),
less than the corresponding percentages of families maintained by women or families
maintained by men (9.8 percent and 9.5 percent, respectively). Among families with at
least one unemployed family member, those maintained by women were less likely to also
have an employed family member (50.1 percent) than families maintained by men and
married-couple families (58.5 percent and 80.4 percent, respectively). This proportion
for married-couple families and families maintained by men was about the same as in
the prior year, while it increased by 1.9 percentage points for families maintained by
women. (See tables 2 and 3.)

Families and Employment

In 2016, 80.4 percent of families had at least one employed family member, little
different from the prior year. Over the year, the likelihood of having an employed
family member was about unchanged among White (80.2 percent), Black (77.8 percent),
Asian (88.5 percent), and Hispanic families (86.7 percent). (See table 1.)

In 2016, families maintained by women remained less likely to have an employed member
(76.6 percent) than families maintained by men (83.6 percent) or married-couple families
(81.1 percent). Among married-couple families, both the husband and wife were employed
in 48.0 percent of families; in 19.5 percent of married-couple families only the husband
was employed, and in 7.1 percent only the wife was employed. (See table 2.)

Families with Children

In 2016, 34.2 million families included children under age 18, about two-fifths of all
families. (Children are sons, daughters, step-children, or adopted children living in the
household who are under 18 years old. Not included are nieces, nephews, grandchildren,
other related and unrelated children, and children not living in the household.) At least
one parent was employed in 89.7 percent of families with children in 2016. Among married-
couple families with children, 96.8 percent had at least one employed parent and 61.1
percent had both parents employed. Among families of other marital statuses with children,
the mother was employed in 72.5 percent of those maintained by mothers, and the father was
employed in 82.6 percent of those maintained by fathers; both of these measures were up
over the year. (Other marital status refers to persons who never married or are widowed,
divorced, separated, or married but living apart from their spouse, as well as persons
in same-sex marriages.) (See table 4.)

Parents

The labor force participation rate--the percent of the population working or looking
for work--for all women with children under age 18 was 70.5 percent in 2016. The
participation rate for married mothers (67.9 percent) remained lower than the rate 
for mothers with other marital statuses (76.0 percent). The unemployment rate for
married mothers was also considerably lower than for mothers with other marital
statuses--3.2 percent, compared with 7.8 percent. (See table 5.)

Mothers with younger children are less likely to be in the labor force than mothers
with older children. In 2016, the labor force participation rate of mothers with
children under 6 years old was lower than the rate of those whose youngest child was
6 to 17 years old (64.7 percent versus 75.0 percent). The participation rate of
mothers with infants under a year old was 58.6 percent. Among mothers with infants,
the participation rate of married mothers was lower than the rate of mothers with
other marital statuses--57.6 percent versus 60.8 percent. The unemployment rate of
mothers with infants who were married, at 3.0 percent, was substantially lower than
the rate for mothers with other marital statuses, at 12.2 percent. (See tables 5
and 6.)

In 2016, 92.8 percent of all men with children under age 18 participated in the labor
force. The participation rate for married fathers, at 93.6 percent, continued to be
higher than the rate of fathers with other marital statuses (87.7 percent). Married
fathers also continued to have a lower unemployment rate (2.6 percent) than fathers
with other marital statuses (7.0 percent). (See table 5.)

In 2016, 95.6 percent of employed fathers worked full time, compared with 76.3 percent
of employed mothers. Among employed mothers, those with young children were somewhat
less likely to work full time than those with older children. Employed fathers were
about equally likely to work full time, regardless of the age of their children. (See
tables 5 and 6.)

Technical Note

   The estimates in this release are based on annual average data from the Current
Population Survey (CPS). The CPS, which is conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for
the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), is a monthly survey of about 60,000 eligible
households that provides information on the labor force status, demographics, and
other characteristics of the nation's civilian noninstitutional population age 16
and over.

   The data presented in this release are not strictly comparable with data for
earlier years due to the introduction of updated population estimates, or controls,
used in the CPS. The population controls are updated each year in January to reflect
the latest information about population change. Additional information is available
from the BLS website at www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm#pop. 

   Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals
upon request: Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Reliability of the estimates

   Statistics based on the CPS are subject to both sampling and nonsampling error.
When a sample, rather than the entire population, is surveyed, there is a chance that
the sample estimates may differ from the true population values they represent. The
exact difference, or sampling error, varies depending on the particular sample
selected, and this variability is measured by the standard error of the estimate.
There is about a 90-percent chance, or level of confidence, that an estimate based
on a sample will differ by no more than 1.6 standard errors from the true population
value because of sampling error. BLS analyses are generally conducted at the 90-percent
level of confidence.

   The CPS data also are affected by nonsampling error. Nonsampling error can occur for
many reasons, including the failure to sample a segment of the population, inability to
obtain information for all respondents in the sample, inability or unwillingness of
respondents to provide correct information, and errors made in the collection or
processing of the data.

   Information about the reliability of data from the CPS and guidance on estimating
standard errors is available at www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm#reliability.

Definitions

   Definitions of the principal terms used in this release are presented below.

   Householder. The householder is the family reference person. This is the person
(or one of the persons) in whose name the housing unit is owned or rented. The
relationship of other individuals in the household is defined in terms of their
relationship to the householder. The race or ethnicity of the family is determined
by that of the householder.

   Family. A family is a group of two or more persons residing together who are related
by birth, marriage, or adoption. The count of families is for "primary" families only,
that is, the householder and all other persons related to and residing with the
householder. Families include those without children as well as those with children 
under 18 years and are defined as follows:

   --Married-couple families refer to opposite-sex married couples only.

   --Families maintained by women or men are made up of householders residing with
     one or more family members, but not an opposite-sex spouse. The household may
     or may not include a same-sex spouse or an unmarried domestic partner (of
     either sex).

   This release presents data for two marital status categories, defined below. Marital
status is based on a person's status at the time of the survey.

   Married, spouse present. Married, spouse present,  includes persons in opposite-sex
marriages living together in the same household, even though one may be temporarily
absent on business, on vacation, on a visit, in a hospital, or for other reasons.

   Other marital status. Other marital status includes persons who are never married;
widowed; divorced; separated; married, spouse absent; as well as persons in same-sex
marriages. Separated includes persons with legal separations, those living apart with
intentions of obtaining a divorce, and other persons permanently or temporarily 
separated because of marital discord. Married, spouse absent, includes opposite-sex
married persons living apart because either the husband or wife was employed and living
at a considerable distance from home, was serving away from home in the Armed Forces,
had moved to another area, or had a different place of residence for any other reason
except separation as defined above.

   Children. Data on children refer to own children under age 18 that live in the
household. Included are sons, daughters, step-children, and adopted children of the
husband, wife, or person maintaining the family. Not included are nieces, nephews,
grandchildren, other related children, and all unrelated children living in the
household.

   Employed. Employed persons are all those who, during the survey reference week,
(a) did any work at all as paid employees; (b) worked in their own business, profession,
or on their own farm; (c) or worked 15 hours or more as unpaid workers in an enterprise
operated by a member of the family. Persons who were temporarily absent from their jobs
because of illness, vacation, labor disputes, or another reason also are counted as
employed.

   Unemployed. The unemployed are persons who had no employment during the reference
week, were available for work at that time, and had made specific efforts to find
employment sometime during the 4-week period ending with the reference week. Persons
who were waiting to be recalled to a job from which they had been laid off need not be
looking for work to be classified as unemployed.

   Civilian labor force. The civilian labor force comprises all persons classified as
employed or unemployed. Unemployment rate.

   Unemployment rate. The unemployment rate is the number unemployed as a percent of
the civilian labor force.

   Labor force participation rate. The labor force participation rate is the labor
force as a percent of the population.

   Employment-population ratio. The employment-population ratio is the employed as a
percent of the population.