The traditional nuclear family -- the 1950s setup of husband-wife-and-kids -- is being eclipsed in the Atlanta region by every other type of living arrangement the census bureau measures.
Increasingly, households in Atlanta's 28-county metropolitan statistical are made up of single moms and dads and their kids, childless couples and people living alone or with someone other than a family member, according to figures from the 2010 census that were released Thursday.
The region added 383,000 households between 2000 and 2010, nearly 25 percent. But the number of households consisting of a husband, a wife and children grew only about 12 percent. Every other type of household grew faster.
Still, Georgia was one of only eight states that experienced any growth in husband-wife-and-children households, said William Frey, a demographer at the Washington, D.C.-based Brookings Institution. Georgia was also among the few states that saw growth in the number of children.
"Georgia is either on the leading edge or is lagging behind the rest of the country," he said.
The implications of such broad growth will have an impact on the demand for everything from schools to roads.
"We'll be asking what kind of housing stock is appropriate, and do we have a diversity of housing mix," said Mike Alexander, chief of the research division at the Atlanta Regional Commission.
Alexander, for one, was unsurprised by the increasing diversity of living arrangements reflected in the census figures.
"Generally it has been accepted that there has been a decline in two-parent, traditional households," he said.
Among the fastest growing types of households were those that include a father and kids without a wife (up 45 percent); those with a mother and kids but no husband (up 35 percent); and people living alone (up 35 percent).
Another category that increased was families who took in relatives, perhaps a concession to tough economic times. Most of the area's largest counties saw modest to significant increases. For instance, households in Gwinnett County took in 30,00 family members other than spouses and children, an increases of 84 percent.
In some cases, families opened their homes to people who were not related.
Barbara Myers of Snellville took in a friend’s two teenage girls early this year after the friend lost her job. Unable to find work, the woman moved to Texas to join her husband, who is in the military.
She left her daughters in Myers' care because the teens are set to graduate from high school this year.
“She’s a good friend from church,” said Myers. “She couldn’t find a job.”
The move has had an impact. Myers, who works for Prevent Blindness Georgia and has a daughter of her own at home, has seen an increase in her food and water bills.
Still, she says the effort is worth it. There have been mother-daughter moments with the girls, including talking about college life and filling out graduation invitations. The two are also preparing for their prom.
“I think everyone needs to pitch in and help when they can,” Myers said. “It’s back to my days of having lots of kids at home.”
Villa Rica resident Tammy Priest took in Brandy Jones three weeks ago after the young mother found herself with no place to live. A foreclosure forced Jones' mother, with whom she had been staying, to move, and her new home was too small to accommodate Jones and her 6-year-old Braxton.
Priest lives in a three-bedroom house with her husband, who travels and is often gone. Having Jones and her son there fills the quiet and brings new life to the house. That is especially welcome, because Priest's son, who lived with her, died last year.
"They have really filled a hole for me," Priest said. "My mother says, ‘Are you trying to save the world?' But I think it's the right thing to do. We should all be helping those in need."
Staff writer Craig Schneider contributed to this article.
5 THINGS WE LEARNED
1. We’re getting older fast. The number of people 65 and older rose 44.4 percent in the last decade, nearly twice the growth rate of metro Atlanta’s population overall.
2, More kids live among us. The metro area added nearly 62,000 children younger than 5.
3. We’re still a pretty stable place when it comes to the size of our families. Metro Atlanta’s family households average 3.23 people, pretty close to the 3.18 we averaged a decade ago.
4, There are more kids yonger than 18 living in metro Atlanta homes without both a married mom and dad. The number living with just dads grew 45 percent. Those living with just moms is up 35 percent.
5, Don’t have kids living with you? You’re far from alone. Only about a third of metro Atlanta’s 1.9 million households consisted of a parent or parents living with children younger than 18.
— Matt Kempner
WHY CENSUS IS IMPORTANT
Schools, businesses, politicians use stats
Every 10 years, the nation takes a head count.
The first priority is to determine seats in the House of Representatives and to draw district lines for states. But there are uses for the numbers.
The census is used to distribute more than $400 billion in federal aid to states based on population. The count helps in planning everything from school locations to where roads and hospitals will be built.
Political groups study the information to determine the strength of specific blocs and how to turn that power into a seat at the local, state and national decision-making levels.
And businesses use the numbers for demographic profiles when targeting customers, developing marketing strategies and deciding where to best open new locations.
— Leon Stafford
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