A New Approach to Studying Interactions of Household Structure and Race/Ethnicity at the National and Local Levels

Laurie Schwede, U.S. Census Bureau
Rae Lesser Blumberg, University of Virginia

The U.S. is rapidly diversifying in terms of race/ethnicity and household structure. Due to differential minority growth rates, non-Hispanic whites are projected to become a minority in the 2050s. Household structure is also becoming more complex. This paper provides baseline data comparing household structures (including complex households) across 6 race/ethnic groups originally included in localized ethnographic studies: whites, blacks, Navajos, Eskimos, and immigrant Latinos and Koreans. The largest dataset, Census 2000, is used to compare these groups at both the national and customized local study levels, showing distinct differences in household and family size; family type; presence of children; and in the proportion of one measurable complex household type: households with any nonrelatives. The paper documents differences by race/ethnicity and by geographical level in the incidence of nonrelatives in family vs. nonfamily households. Results are from the 2006 book, Complex Ethnic Households in America, by Schwede, Blumberg, and Chan.