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Employment characteristics of families, 2012

April 30, 2013

Among married-couple families with children under 18 years of age, 96.3 percent had at least one employed parent in 2012 (compared with 95.8 percent the previous year). The share of married-couple families with children where both parents worked was 59.0 percent.
Percent of married-couple families with children under age 18 by employment status of parents and age of youngest child, 2012 annual averages
Age of childrenBoth parents employedMother employed, not fatherFather employed, not motherNeither parent employed

Under 18

59.06.530.83.7

6 to 17 years

62.47.126.53.9

Under 6 years

54.65.636.33.5

The share of married-couple families with children ages 6 to 17 where both parents worked was 62.4 percent. For the same age range, the share of married-couple families where only the father was employed was 26.5 percent. The share of married-couple families with children under 6 years of age where only the father was employed was 36.3 percent.

Among families maintained by mothers with no spouse present, the mother was employed in 67.1 percent of families in 2012. Among families maintained by fathers with no spouse present, the father was employed in 81.6 percent of families in 2012.
Percent of families maintained by women or men (no spouse present) with children under 18 by employment status of parent and age of youngest child, 2012 annual averages
Age of childrenFamilies maintained by motherFamilies maintained by father
Mother employedMother not employedFather employedFather not employed

Under 18

67.132.981.618.4

6 to 17 years

72.127.981.118.9

Under 6 years

59.940.182.417.6

 

Among families maintained by mothers with no spouse present, the mother was employed in 72.1 percent of families in which the youngest child was ages 6 to 17; the mother was employed in 59.9 percent of families in which the youngest child was under 6 years of age in 2012. Among families maintained by fathers with no spouse present, regardless of the age of the children, the likelihood of the father being employed was in the range of 81 to 82 percent.

These data are from the Current Population Survey. For more information, see "Employment Characteristics of Families — 2012" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL‑13‑0730. Children include sons, daughters, step-children, and adopted children. Not included are nieces, nephews, grandchildren, and other related and unrelated children.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Employment characteristics of families, 2012 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2013/ted_20130430.htm (visited October 08, 2024).

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