Same-sex Married and Cohabiting Couples Raising Children, 2023

Family Profile No. 7, 2025
Author: Christopher A. Julian

Using data from the 2023 American Community Survey (ACS), this Family Profile estimates the proportion of same- and different-sex couples raising children, disaggregated by relationship type (i.e., cohabiting or married) and age (i.e., 18-29, 30-39, 40-49, and 50-59). For this analysis, children are defined as biological, adopted, or stepchildren of the household head[1] under the age of eighteen. Couples’ sex composition is coded directly using the recently revised household roster (Kreider & Gurrentz, 2019). To focus on couples raising minor children, we restrict our sample to those in which the younger member is under the age of sixty. This report updates Family Profiles FP-21-08 (Manning & Payne, 2021) and FP-24-05 (Westrick-Payne & Manning, 2024).

Presence of Children by Relationship Type

• A greater proportion of different-sex couples were raising children relative to same-sex couples.
• Among both cohabiting and married same-sex couples, a larger share of female-female couples were raising children compared to male-male couples. About three-in-ten (32%) married female-female couples had children, compared to one-in-ten (10%) married male-male couples.
• Approximately 16% of cohabiting female-female couples were raising children, compared to just 3% of cohabiting male-male couples.
• Across all couple types, cohabiting couples were raising children less often than married couples.

Figure 1. Presence of the Householder’s Biological, Adopted, Step, or Foster Children under Age 18 among Coupled Households by Couple Type, 2023

Source: NCFMR analyses of U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 1-year estimates 2023 from IPUMS USA, University of Minnesota, www.ipums.org

Note: Younger member of the couple is under the age of 60.

Presence of Children by Age

• Across the age categories, a larger share of different-sex couples were living with a child, followed by female same-sex couples and lastly male same-sex couples.
• Among couples where the younger partner was aged 18–29, about two-fifths (42%) of different-sex couples, 15% of female same-sex couples, and 4% of male same-sex couples were raising a child.
• The prevalence of children in the household was highest for couples in which the younger member was between the ages of 30 and 39 for both different-sex couples (74%) and female-female couples (36%). For male-male couples it peaked among those between the ages of 40 and 49 at 11%.
• The presence of children declined across all couple types from the 40–49 age bracket to the 50–59 age bracket.

Figure 2. Presence of Householder’s Biological, Adopted, Step or Foster Children under Age 18 among Coupled Households by Couple Type & Age, 2023

Source: NCFMR analyses of U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 1-year estimates 2023 from IPUMS USA, University of Minnesota, www.ipums.org

Note: Younger member of the couple is under the age of 60.

Data Source:
Ruggles, S., Flood, S., Sobek, M., Backman, D., Chen, A., Cooper, G., Richards, S., Rodgers, R., & Schouweiler, M. (2024). IPUMS USA: Version 15.0 [dataset]. Minneapolis, MN: IPUMS. https://doi.org/10.18128/D010.V15.0  

References:
Kreider, R. M., & Gurrentz, B. (2019). Updates to collection and editing of household relationship measures in the Current Population Survey. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved from: https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/working-papers/2019/demo/SEHSD-WP-2018-30.pdf.

Manning, W. D., & Payne, K. K. (2021). Same-sex married and cohabiting couples raising children. Family Profiles, FP-21-08. Bowling Green, OH: National Center for Family & Marriage Research. https://doi.org/10.25035/ncfmr/fp-21-08

Westrick-Payne, K. K., & Manning W. D. (2024). Same-sex married and cohabiting couples raising children, 2022. Family Profiles, FP-24-05. Bowling Green, OH: National Center for Family & Marriage Research. https://doi.org/10.25035/ncfmr/fp-24-05

Suggested Citation:
Julian, C. A. (2025). Same-sex married and cohabiting couples raising children, 2023. Family Profiles, FP-25-07. Bowling Green, OH: National Center for Family & Marriage Research. https://doi.org/10.25035/ncfmr/fp-25-07

This project is supported with assistance from Bowling Green State University. From 2007 to 2013, support was also provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are solely those of the author(s) and should not be construed as representing the opinions or policy of any agency of the state or federal government.