Adoption Facts & Statistics from the 2004 U.S. Census Bureau
Adoption Facts & Statistics from the 2004 U.S. Census Bureau
Children
1.6 million
Number of adopted children (under 18) of householders. These children comprise
2.5 percent of all children (under 18) of householders. An additional 473,000
adopted children of householders are 18 and over, again representing 2.5 percent
of all householder children in that age group.
3.9%
Percentage of children under 18 in Alaska who are adopted, the highest of any
state.
90
Number of adopted boys for every 100 adopted girls under 18. Conversely, among
biological children in this age group, the ratio is 106 boys for every 100
girls.
16%
Percentage of adopted children under 18 who are black. Additionally, 7 percent
are Asian and 2 percent are American Indian and Alaska native. Adopted children
are more likely to be of these race groups than are biological children or
stepchildren.
17%
Percentage of adopted children under 18 who are of a different race than the
householder. This compares with 11 percent of stepchildren and 7 percent of
biological children.
Foreign-born
13%
Percentage of adopted children who are foreign-born. The corresponding rate for
biological children and stepchildren is 4 percent.
48,000
Number of foreign-born adopted children under 18 from Korea. Korea is the
largest single-country source of such children, accounting for nearly one-fourth
(24 percent) of them. Overall, nearly half of foreign-born adopted children of
all ages are from Asia.
21,616
Number of immigrant visas issued to orphans coming to the United States for
adoption in
2003, up from 7,377 a decade earlier. The leading sources of these orphans are
China and Russia.
http://adoption.state.gov/adoption.homepage.html
82%
Percentage of European-born adopted children under 6 who are from Russia or
Romania.
Households
1.7 million
Number of households that contain adopted children. These households comprise 4
percent of all households in which the householder has children.
Among households that contain adopted children of the householder, 82 percent have just one adopted child, while 15 percent have two and 3 percent have three or more.
43
Average age of householders with adopted children. These householders’ average
age is about 5 years older than householders with biological children or
stepchildren.
$56,000
Median income for households with adopted children under 18, higher than those
with biological children and stepchildren, $48,000 and $51,000, respectively.
33%
Percentage of adopted children under 18 who live with a householder who has at
least a bachelor’s degree. This compares with 26 percent for biological children
and 16 percent for stepchildren.
78%
Percentage of adopted children under 18 who live in homes that are owned by
their adoptive parents. The percentage of biological children and stepchildren
under 18 in homes owned by their parents is 67 percent.
Unless otherwise noted, further information on the data in this edition of Facts for Features may be obtained at <http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/census_2000/001281.html>.