RECONSIDERING THE INCREASE IN FATHER-ONLY FAMILIES

Previously reported estimates of rapid growth rates among father-only families did not account for cohabitation. An explicit treatment of co habitation removes about half of the presumed growth. Nevertheless, we find that the number of father-only families grew at more than double the rate of mother-only families during the 1980s. Decomposition anal yses show that the largest factor associated with the increase is that fathers now head a greater proportion of all formerly married single- parent families with children. Although the share of single-parent fam ilies headed by fathers is larger in 1990 than in 1980 even after cont rolling for cohabitation, it is smaller than in 1970.