For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Thursday, April 23, 2015                 USDL-15-0689

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


             EMPLOYMENT CHARACTERISTICS OF FAMILIES -- 2014


In 2014, 8.0 percent of families included an unemployed person, down from 
9.6 percent in 2013, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Of 
the nation's 80.9 million families, 80.1 percent had at least one employed 
member in 2014.

These data on employment, unemployment, and family relationships are 
collected as part of the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly sample 
survey of approximately 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.

Families and Unemployment

The number of families with at least one member unemployed decreased to 
6.5 million in 2014 from 7.7 million in 2013. The proportion of families 
with an unemployed member declined to 8.0 percent in 2014. Black and 
Hispanic families remained more likely to have an unemployed member in 
2014 (14.1 percent and 10.8 percent, respectively) than white and Asian 
families (7.0 percent and 7.5 percent, respectively). (See table 1.)

About two-thirds (68.1 percent) of families with an unemployed member in 
2014 also had at least one family member who was employed, about the same 
as the prior year. Among families with an unemployed family member, 58.9 
percent had at least one family member who was employed full time, up 
from 58.0 percent in 2013. (See table 1.)

Among married-couple families with an unemployed member, the proportion 
of families with at least one employed family member was 80.4 percent in 
2014, up from 79.4 percent in 2013. Among families maintained by women 
(no spouse present) with an unemployed member, 48.4 percent also had an 
employed member in 2014; for families maintained by men (no spouse 
present), the proportion was 57.7 percent. Both proportions were little 
changed from 2013. (See table 3.)

Families and Employment

The share of families with an employed member was about unchanged at 
80.1 percent in 2014. The likelihood of having an employed family member 
rose in 2014 for black families (from 75.7 percent to 76.4 percent) and
for Hispanic families (from 85.1 percent to 85.9 percent). The likelihood
for white and Asian families showed little or no change (80.1 percent and
88.5 percent, respectively). (See table 1.)

In 2014, families maintained by women with no spouse present remained 
less likely to have an employed member (74.4 percent) than families 
maintained by men with no spouse present (83.0 percent) or married-couple 
families (81.4 percent). Both the husband and wife were employed in 47.7 
percent of married-couple families in 2014. The husband was the only 
worker in 19.9 percent of married-couple families, and the wife was the 
only worker in 7.5 percent of these families. (See table 2.)

Families with Children

In 2014, about 43 percent of all families included children under age 18. 
(Children are sons, daughters, step-children, or adopted children living 
in the household. Not included are nieces, nephews, grandchildren, other 
related and unrelated children, and children not living in the household.) 
Among the 34.4 million families with children, 88.7 percent had at least 
one employed parent in 2014. Among married-couple families with children, 
96.6 percent had at least one employed parent in 2014. The share of 
married-couple families with children where both parents worked was 60.2 
percent. The mother was employed in 69.4 percent of families with 
children maintained by women with no spouse present in 2014, and the 
father was employed in 81.9 percent of families with children maintained 
by men with no spouse present. (See table 4.)

Parents

The labor force participation rate--the percent of the population working 
or looking for work--for all mothers with children under age 18 was 70.1 
percent in 2014. The participation rate for married mothers with a 
spouse present (67.8 percent) remained lower than the rate for mothers 
with other marital statuses (74.6 percent). (Other marital status refers 
to persons who never married or are widowed, divorced, separated, or 
married but living apart from their spouse.) The unemployment rate for 
married mothers was substantially lower than for mothers with other 
marital statuses--4.0 percent, compared with 10.3 percent. (See table 5.)

Mothers with younger children are less likely to be in the labor force 
than mothers with older children. In 2014, the labor force participation 
rate of mothers with children under 6 years old (64.2 percent) was lower 
than the rate of those whose youngest child was 6 to 17 years old (74.7 
percent). The participation rate of mothers with infants under a year 
old was 57.1 percent. Among mothers with infants, there was little 
difference in the participation rates of married mothers (57.9 percent) 
and those with other marital statuses (55.8 percent). However, the 
unemployment rate for married mothers of infants, at 4.1 percent, was 
considerably lower than the rate for mothers with other marital statuses, 
at 15.6 percent. (See tables 5 and 6.)

In 2014, 92.8 percent of all fathers with children under age 18 
participated in the labor force. The rate for married fathers with a 
spouse present (93.7 percent) continued to be higher than the 
participation rate for fathers with other marital statuses (87.1 
percent). Married fathers had a lower unemployment rate (3.2 percent) 
than fathers with other marital statuses (8.7 percent). (See table 5.) 

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.

   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 are classified either as married-couple families or as families maintained by
women or men without spouses. Families include those without children as well as those with
children under 18.

   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 relationship to the householder. The
race or ethnicity of the family is determined by that of the householder. 

   Married, spouse present; other marital status. These terms denote the marital status of
individuals at the time of interview. Married, spouse present, refers to husbands and wives
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 includes
persons who are never-married; married, spouse absent; separated; widowed; or divorced. 
Separated includes persons with legal separations, those living apart with intentions of 
obtaining a divorce, and other people permanently or temporarily separated because of marital
discord. Married, spouse absent, includes married people 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. 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.