Interesting interactive map today over at the New York Times Upshot blog on the “North-South divide” when it comes to two-parent families in the United States. Children in northern states are much more likely to grow up in two-parent families than children in southern states, with states in Dixie coming in at the lowest percentages. (The study, based on census data, looked at the proportion of children growing up with both of their married, biological parents.)
As the Upshot’s David Leonhardt explains, it’s not exclusively a blue-state-red-state divide, as states in the West and the Plains, like Utah and Nebraska, have among the highest percentages.
Arkansas has the third lowest percentage of two-parent families in the nation at 37 percent (Mississippi comes in the lowest, at 32 percent, and Louisiana is next at 36 percent).
Utah has the highest percentage at 57 percent. The other states on the high end are an interesting mix: (Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Massachusetts, Connecticut).