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In the public policy debate one of the first questions asked of any proposal is how it will affect the American family. Too often only vague speculations or even a question of "what is the typical family" answers this question.

This website will provide the answer by profiling a family of four.

Social, demographic and economic characteristics of this type of family will be presented in the following pages.

This site will allow researchers to quickly find information concerning families of four by displaying a variety of data in one source.

You can also view all tables here.


The first chapter contains demographic information on husband and wife families with two children and other types of families of four. Currently, four person famililesare over twenty percent of all family types. Married families with two children make up almost half of all married families with children. Race, ethnicity, and the age of the family head are just some of the tables in this chapter. This chapter provides a variety of background information on families of four, with the primary focus on married couple families. The Current Population Survey published annually by the Bureau of the Census is used for many of the tables in this chapter.


The second chapter presents the economic view of the family. It will show the various types of the income a family receives as well as the amount and type of taxes a family pays. According the to the most recent data, a married family pays 23.1% of its income in taxes in 1995. The IRS Public Use File for 1995, a statistically accurate sample of all individual tax returns for that year, contains much of the data used in this chapter. The file, created by the IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) Division contains 103,117 records. These are the same returns that SOI uses to prepare its annual analysis of taxpayers. A tax return of joint filers with two dependents was considered to be the return of a husband wife family with two children. The Current Population Survey provides information on how many families of four currently reside in poverty by both race and ethnicity.


The wealth and expenditures of a family is the basis for the next chapter. This chapter details how a four-person family consumes it resources. From food to reading material, the average expenditures of a family of four are detailed. The Survey of Wealth and the Consumer Expenditure Survey published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics are used for tables detailing the amount and type of savings or investment for families and how much the families spend on a variety of goods and services.


The final chapter contains information on education. It shows the highest level of education obtained by the head of each of family. This table also shows the race and ethnicity of the family head.

Tell us what you think of this site. Send your comments and feedback to fam4@heritage.org.

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