For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Thursday, April 18, 2019 	             USDL-19-0666

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


                EMPLOYMENT CHARACTERISTICS OF FAMILIES -- 2018


In 2018, 5.2 percent of families included an unemployed person, down
from 5.8 percent in 2017, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported
today. Of the nation's 82.5 million families, 80.8 percent had at least
one employed member in 2018.

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 with and without 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 444,000 to 4.3 million in 2018. The proportion of families with
an unemployed person declined by 0.6 percentage point to 5.2 percent.
(This is the lowest proportion since 1994, the first year for which
comparable data are available.) In 2018, this proportion was down for
White (4.7 percent), Black (8.4 percent), Asian (4.7 percent) and 
Hispanic (7.0 percent) families. Black and Hispanic families remained
more likely to have an unemployed member than White or Asian families.
(See table 1.) 

Seventy percent of families with an unemployed member also had at least
one family member who was employed in 2018, up from 69.1 percent in the
prior year. The proportion of families with an unemployed member that
had at least one family member working full time grew to 61.3 percent
in 2018. 

Among families with an unemployed member, Black families remained less
likely to also have at least one family member who was working (60.3
percent) than White (71.8 percent), Asian (84.5 percent), and Hispanic
(71.5 percent) families. However, the likelihood of Black families with
an unemployed member also having an employed family member did increase
from 58.1 percent in 2017 to 60.3 percent in 2018. (See table 1.)

In 2018, 4.2 percent of married-couple families had an unemployed member,
less than the corresponding percentages of families maintained by women
or families maintained by men (8.0 percent and 7.7 percent, respectively).
Among families with an unemployed family member, those maintained by women
were less likely to also have an employed family member (51.4 percent)
than families maintained by men and married-couple families (56.2 percent
and 82.1 percent, respectively). (See tables 2 and 3.)

Families and Employment

In 2018, 80.8 percent of families had at least one employed family member,
up from 80.5 percent in the prior year. From 2017 to 2018, the likelihood
of having an employed family member increased among White (80.4 percent),
Black (79.3 percent), and Hispanic (87.5 percent) families. The percentage
of Asian families having at least one family member employed (88.3 percent)
was little different from the prior year. (See table 1.)

In 2018, families maintained by women remained less likely to have an
employed member (77.7 percent) than families maintained by men (84.3 percent)
or married-couple families (81.2 percent). Among married-couple families,
both the husband and wife were employed in 48.8 percent of families; in
19.1 percent of married-couple families only the husband was employed, and
in 6.8 percent only the wife was employed. (See table 2.)

Families with Children

In 2018, 33.6 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 age 18. 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 90.8 percent of families with children, an increase of 0.6 percentage
point from the previous year. Among married-couple families with children,
97.4 percent had at least one employed parent, and 63.0 percent had both
parents employed. Among families maintained by fathers, 84.2 percent of
fathers were employed in 2018, a greater share than the 74.1 percent of
employed mothers in families maintained by mothers. (See tables 1 and 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 71.5 percent
in 2018, up from 71.1 percent in the prior year. Married mothers remained
less likely to participate in the labor force, at 69.0 percent, than mothers
with other marital statuses, at 76.7 percent. (Other marital status includes
persons who are never married; widowed; divorced; separated; and married,
spouse absent; as well as persons in same-sex marriages.) The unemployment
rate for married mothers was also considerably lower than for mothers with
other marital statuses--2.5 percent, compared with 6.4 percent. (See table 5.) 

Mothers with young children are less likely to be in the labor force than
those with older children. In 2018, the labor force participation rate of 
mothers with children under age 6, at 65.1 percent, was lower than the rate
of those whose youngest child was age 6 to 17, at 76.4 percent. Among mothers
with children under age 3, the participation rate of married mothers was
lower than the rate of mothers with other marital statuses--59.6 percent
versus 67.2 percent. The unemployment rate of mothers who were married and
had children under age 3, at 2.6 percent, was substantially lower than the
rate for their counterparts with other marital statuses, at 8.7 percent.
(See tables 5 and 6.)

The labor force participation rate for all fathers with children under age
18 rose to 93.3 percent in 2018. The participation rate for married fathers,
at 94.1 percent, continued to be higher than the rate of fathers with other
marital statuses (88.4 percent). Married fathers also continued to have a
lower unemployment rate (1.9 percent) than fathers with other marital statuses
(5.7 percent). (See table 5.)

Employed fathers remained more likely to work full time than employed mothers
in 2018; 96 percent of employed fathers worked full time, compared with 78
percent of employed mothers. Among employed mothers, those with older children
were more likely to work full time than those with younger children. In 2018,
80 percent of employed mothers with children ages 6 to 17 worked full time,
compared with 75 percent of mothers with children under age 6. Employed fathers
with younger and older children were about equally likely to work full time.
(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. 

   Upon request, the information in this release will be made available to individuals
who are sensory impaired: 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 described briefly 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; all such individuals are considered members of one family. The
count of families is for "primary" families only. A primary family consists of a householder
and all other persons related to and residing with the householder. Sub-families are excluded
from the count of families. A sub-family is a family that does not maintain their own household,
such as a married couple living in the home of a friend and their family. In this example,
the report would include only one family (the householder's or primary family), not two. 
Families include those with and without children under age 18. Families are further categorized
as follows:

   --Married-couple families refer to opposite-sex married couples residing together and any
     of their family members residing in the household.
   
   --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; and 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;
or (c) 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.
	
   Full-time workers. Workers who usually work 35 hours or more per week at all jobs.
	
   Part-time workers. Workers who usually work fewer than 35 hours per week at all jobs.
	
   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. 
	
   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.
	
   Unemployment rate. The unemployment rate is the number unemployed as a percent of the civilian
labor force.