Family living arrangements—how many parents are present in the household and whether the household includes
other relatives—shape the character and contexts of children’s lives and influence the human resources available to them.
As evidenced in Figures 2 and 3, which are derived from IPUMS, DHS, and national censuses, the living arrangements
that children experience vary substantially around the globe. And the distribution of children across these various types of
family living arrangements is changing over time. The family strengths that are described in a subsequent section can be
found in each type of family.