Most Americans correctly believe single parent families cause poverty

The two-parent family has declined rapidly in recent decades. In 1960, more than 76% of African-Americans and nearly 97% of whites were born to married couples. Today the percentage is 30% for blacks and 70% for whites. The out-of-wedlock birthrate for Hispanics surpassed 50% in 2006. This trend, coupled with high divorce rates, means that roughly 25% of American children now live in single-parent homes, twice the percentage in Europe (12%). Roughly a third of American children live apart from their fathers.

According to a Harvard study: Where is the Land of Opportunity? The Geography of Intergenerational Mobility in the United States, Americans have always thought that growing up with only one parent is bad for children. The rapid spread of single-parent families over the past generation does not seem to have altered this consensus much.