Single Mother Statistics

Single Mother Homes Statistics:

37.8% of single mothers are divorced, 41% never married, and only 6.5% widows. (Brookings Institute, 3/22/04)

The strongest predictor of whether a person will end up in prison is that they were raised by a single parent. (C.C. Harper and S.S. McLanahan, 1998)

In 1996, 70% of inmates in state juvenile detention centers serving long sentences were raised by single mothers. (Wade Horn, June 1997)

72% of juvenile murderers and 60% of rapists came from single mother homes. (Chuck Colson, 2004)

After controlling for single motherhood, the difference between black and white crime rates disappeared. (Progressive Policy Institute, 1990)

Growing up without a father could permanently alter the structure of the brain, leading to more aggressive and angry behavior. Children brought up only by a single mother have a higher risk of developing deviant behavior, including drug abuse. (Dr. Gabriella Gobbi and Francis Bamlico, "CEREBRAL CORTEX")

70% of teen births occur to girls in single mother homes. (David T. Lykken, 2000)

86% of American teen births are out of wedlock. (Dr. David Popenoe, 2007)

70% of drop-outs, 70% of teen suicides, 70% of runaways, 70% of juvenile delinquents, and 70% of child murderers come from single mother homes. (Various sources including Wade Horn and Richard E. Redding)

63% of all youth suicides, 70% of all teen pregnancies, 71% of all adolescent chemical/substance abusers, 80% of all prison inmates, and 90% of all homeless and runaway children come from single mother homes. (Bob Ray Sanders, 2007)

Children brought up in single mother homes are:

5 times more likely to commit suicide,
9 times more likely to drop out of high school,
10 times more likely to abuse chemical substances,
14 times more likely to commit rape,
20 times more likely to end up in prison,
32 times more likely to run away from home.
(Chuck Eddy, 2002)
85% of homeless families are single mother families. (Barry H. Waldman and Stephen P. Perlman, 2008)

90% of welfare recipients are single mothers. (Jason DeParle, 2004)

Over 30% of families led by single moms are living in poverty. (Amanda Hess, 2013)

There were 3 million single mothers in 1970 and 10 million in 2003. (U.S. Census, 2003)

More than one million British children currently live without a father, a figure rising at a rate of 20,000 per year. (Center for Social Justice, 2013)