Mothers Are the Sole or Primary Provider in Four-in-Ten Households with Children

The Story: According to a new Pew Research Center analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau, a record 40% of all households with children under the age of 18 include mothers who are either the sole or primary source of income for the family. The share was just 11% in 1960.

The Background: These "breadwinner moms" are made up of two widely divergent groups. A little more than a third (37%) are married mothers who have a higher income than the their husbands. Approximately 5.1 million American women fall into this category. However, the vast majority (63%) are single mothers, a group comprised of 8.6 million women.

As the Pew analysis notes, the median total family income of married mothers who earn more than their husbands was nearly $80,000 in 2011, well above the national median of $57,100 for all families with children, and nearly four times the $23,000 median for families led by a single mother. Compared with all mothers with children under age 18, married mothers who out-earn their husbands are slightly older, disproportionally white, and college educated. Single mothers, by contrast, are younger, more likely to be black or Hispanic, and less likely to have a college degree.

The Takeaways: Some of the more interesting findings from the survey include:

• The total family income is about $2,000 higher when the mother, not the father, is the primary breadwinner.     Continue at Joe Carter