Family Status.  The number of parents in a family household is closely related to other indicators of socioeconomic status.  For example, data from the CPS indicate that the median income of family households with two parents present is more than twice that of households headed by single females and 40 percent greater than households headed by single males.(22)  The Survey of Recruit Socioeconomic Backgrounds asks respondents to indicate the people who were in their household when they last lived with their parents, stepparents, or guardians.  Approximately 69 percent of accessions indicated that they lived with both father and mother(23) , compared with 71 percent of CPS households (Table 7.1).  Those who lived with one parent were more than three times more likely to live with their mother than with their father.  The percentage of accessions living with two parents was greater for the Air Force (73 percent) than for the other three Services (from 66 to 68 percent).  There were no other differences of consequence among the other Services, nor between active duty and Reserve Component accessions.  Overall, the family composition of enlisted accessions was quite similar to that of the civilian population.

U.S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, P60-200, Money Income in the United States: 1997 (With Separate Data on Valuation of Noncash Benefits), U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 1998.(go back)
23. For purposes of this discussion, the term "father" represents either a biological father, a stepfather, or other male guardian, and the term "mother" represents either a biological mother, a stepmother, or other female guardian.
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