There is an alarming rate of homes without fathers in the past years.
According to a study from the Consensus Bureau, Blacks are more likely to experience fatherless households than their counterparts.
This is a growing concern since two-parent homes are scientifically proven to have economic, developmental, and health-related benefits for children.
What is the percentage of black fatherless homes in the United States in 2025? Let’s get right into it.
Percentage of Black Fatherless Homes in the U.S.
For those who are eager to know the percentage of black fatherless homes, we will not keep you waiting.
According to a survey from a reputable American consensus institution, 67% of Black children in the United States under the age of 18 live in a fatherless home.
This alarming rate is in stark contrast with their White fellows, with the latter recording only 24%.
Black Fatherhood Stereotype
Gauging the percentage of black fatherless homes is not a new talk of the town.
In fact, the stereotype about Black fatherhood being absent in households started way back in 1965.
A report published by a White sociologist in the same year claims that births outside marriage and homes ruled by single mothers will lead to the destruction of Black families over time.
Since then, Black homes have been associated with terms like “fatherless” and “single-parent homes” which is still evident today.
Children Living Exclusively with their Mothers
Although Black families evidently dominate fatherless homes, such is also the case with other ethnicities.
It is not “just a Black thing,” if that’s what you are concerned about.
Take a look at this data on the percentage of children living exclusively with their mothers only in every decade since 1960, characterized by ethnicity.
Black
- 1960 – 19.9% of children belonging to this ethnicity lived without their fathers during the decade
- 1970 – 29.5% of children belonging to this ethnicity lived without their fathers during the decade
- 1980 – 43.9% of children belonging to this ethnicity lived without their fathers during the decade
- 1990 – 51.2% of children belonging to this ethnicity lived without their fathers during the decade
- 2000 – 51.1% of children belonging to this ethnicity lived without their fathers during the decade
- 2010 – 48.5% of children belonging to this ethnicity lived without their fathers during the decade
White
- 1960 – 6.1% of children belonging to this ethnicity lived without their fathers during the decade
- 1970 – 7.8% of children belonging to this ethnicity lived without their fathers during the decade
- 1980 – 13.5% of children belonging to this ethnicity lived without their fathers during the decade
- 1990 – 16.2% of children belonging to this ethnicity lived without their fathers during the decade
- 2000 – 17.3% of children belonging to this ethnicity lived without their fathers during the decade
- 2010 – 18.3% of children belonging to this ethnicity lived without their fathers during the decade
Hispanic
- 1980 – 19.6% of children belonging to this ethnicity lived without their fathers during the decade
- 1990 – 27.1% of children belonging to this ethnicity lived without their fathers during the decade
- 2000 – 25.1% of children belonging to this ethnicity lived without their fathers during the decade
- 2010 – 26.3% of children belonging to this ethnicity lived without their fathers during the decade
Interpretation of the Data
As can be seen from the data above, Black children are more likely to experience fatherless homes compared to Hispanics and Whites.
On the other hand, the percentage is growing swiftly for the White population.
Households with the absence of fathers were at a meager percentage of 6.1% in the 1960s.
However, the numbers have inflated to 18.3% in 2010.
Nevertheless, this ethnicity still has the lowest percentage of fatherless homes among other participating ethnicities.
Children Raised in a Single-parent Structure
Meanwhile, here is another data detailing the number and percentage of children raised in single-parent households from 2015 to 2021.
It may either be that the father or the mother is missing.
Black
- 2015 – 6.3 million or 66% of children lived in single-parent families during the year
- 2016 – 6.2 million or 66% of children lived in single-parent families during the year
- 2017 – 6.1 million or 65% of children lived in single-parent families during the year
- 2018 – 6.1 million or 65% of children lived in single-parent families during the year
- 2019 – 5.9 million or 64% of children lived in single-parent families during the year
- 2021 – 5.6 million or 64% of children lived in single-parent families during the year
Hispanic
- 2015 – 7.1 million or 42% of children lived in single-parent families during the year
- 2016 – 7.2 million or 42% of children lived in single-parent families during the year
- 2017 – 7.2 million or 41% of children lived in single-parent families during the year
- 2018 – 7.3 million or 41% of children lived in single-parent families during the year
- 2019 – 7.3 million or 42% of children lived in single-parent families during the year
- 2021 – 7.4 million or 42% of children lived in single-parent families during the year
White (Non-Hispanic)
- 2015 – 8.9 million or 25% of children lived in single-parent families during the year
- 2016 – 8.7 million or 24% of children lived in single-parent families during the year
- 2017 – 8.6 million or 24% of children lived in single-parent families during the year
- 2018 – 8.5 million or 24% of children lived in single-parent families during the year
- 2019 – 8.4 million or 24% of children lived in single-parent families during the year
- 2021 – 7.9 million or 24% of children lived in single-parent families during the year
Fatherless Homes and its Implications on Child Development
The alarming percentage of black fatherless homes is putting its implications on child development in question.
According to studies, children who grow up with two biological parents are more likely to graduate from college than those living in single-parent and stepparent settings.
In numbers, only 15% of children from single-parent households graduate from college.
This is a lower percentage than those with complete parental figures which is at 28%.
Conclusion
Black homes have often been associated with “fatherless” since the 1960s.
While the percentage of Black children living without their fathers has considerably eased in the past decades, it remains the highest among all ethnicities in the United States.
The percentage of black fatherless homes is as high as 67%.
The absence of a paternal figure is associated with higher chances of dropping out of college.
Worse, of getting incarcerated over time.
Sources
| Givelegacy | Afro | Fathers |
| Datacenter Kidscount | Institute for Family Studies | Center for Health Journalism |
| Fatherhood | PewResearch |
