State of the Family in Alabama

The United States Family Belonging Index is 46 percent, with a corresponding Family Rejection Index of 54 percent, based on 2008-2012 data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. The action of parents determines the Family Belonging or Rejection Index within a nation, region, state, or racial or ethnic group—whether they marry and belong to each other, or whether they reject one another through divorce or other means. Rejection leaves children without married parents committed to one another and to their children.

The Index of Family Belonging is determined by the fraction of children aged 15 to 17 in a given area who live with both their biological parents, who have been married since before or around the time of their birth.

1. Index of Belonging

Alabama has a Family Belonging Index of 38.4 percent. In other words, 38.4 percent of Alabama teenagers aged 15 to 17 have lived with their always-married parents since their birth, whereas 61.6 percent of these adolescents were raised in a non-intact family. Alabama ranks 45th on the state ranking of the Index of Belonging and Rejection.1)

Alabama State Ranking

2. Outcomes by Index of Belonging

Alabama Outcomes

2.1 Youth Outcomes

Alabama Youth Outcomes

3. Mapping Alabama

3.1 Family Intactness

Fraction of Families Intact Alabama Family Intactness

3.2 Teenage Out-of-Wedlock Births

Fraction of teenage out-of-wedlock births out of all births Alabama Teenage Out-of-Wedlock Births

3.3 High School Graduates

Fraction of 19- to 20-year-olds who are high school graduates Alabama High School Graduates

3.4 Employment

Fraction of 25- to 54-year-old men working Alabama Male Employment

3.5 Earnings

Average earnings per 25- to 54-year-old male Alabama Male Earnings

3.6 Homeowners

Fraction of households owning a home Alabama Homeowners

3.7 Poverty

See Alabama Effects of Family Structure on Poverty

Fraction of the overall population below poverty Alabama Overall Poverty Fraction of 25- to 54-year-old females below the poverty line Alabama Female Poverty Fraction of minors below the poverty line Alabama Minor Poverty

3.8 Government Dependence

See Effects of Family Structure on Government Dependency and Effects of Welfare on Families

Fraction of households receiving food stamps Alabama Food Stamps Average TANF and State Welfare Transfers per 25- to 54-year-old females Alabama TANF and State Welfare Transfers Average Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) per 25- to 54-year-olds Alabama Average Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) Average Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) per 25- to 54-year-old male Alabama Male Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) Average Supplemental Security Income (SSI) per 25- to 54-year-old male Alabama Male Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Average Supplemental Security Income (SSI) per 25- to 54-year-old female Alabama Female Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

3.9 Healthcare

See Alabama Effects of Family Structure on Healthcare Coverage

Fraction of 25- to 54-year-olds receiving public healthcare Alabama Public Healthcare Recipients Fraction of minors receiving public healthcare Alabama Minor Public Healthcare Recipients Fraction of 25- to 54-year-olds covered by private healthcare Alabama Private Healthcare Coverage Fraction of minors covered by private healthcare Alabama Minor Private Healthcare Coverage