EMBARGOED UNTIL:  AUG. 23, 1995 (WEDNESDAY)           


Public Information Office                         CB95-154
301-457-2794
301-457-4067 (TDD)

Amara Bachu
301-457-2449
abachu@census.gov

      ABOUT 40 PERCENT OF FOOD STAMP MOTHERS NEVER MARRIED

     EMBARGOED UNTIL:  AUG. 23, 1995 (WEDNESDAY) - In 1993, about
40 percent--2.1 million of the nation's 5.3 million mothers
receiving food stamps--had never been married, according to a
study released today by the Commerce Department's Census Bureau.

     And these never-married mothers between the ages of 15 and
44 years old had an average of 2.3 children each, the bureau said
in a statistical brief titled "Mothers Who Receive Food Stamps --
Fertility and Socioeconomic Characteristics," SB/95-22.

     Overall, about 5.3 million mothers 15 to 44 years old
reported receiving food stamps.  On average, these women had
about 2.6 children each.  Mothers not on food stamps had an
average 2.1 children each.

     The Census Bureau's data were collected in the Survey of
Income and Program Participation (SIPP) between June and
September 1993.

     Other findings:

     -    The average age of mothers receiving food stamps was 
          30 years old; those not in the program was 34.  About 
          4 percent of mothers receiving food stamps were
          teenagers.

     -    The average age at first birth for mothers on food
          stamps was 20 years old compared with an average age of
          23 for mothers not receiving food stamps.

     -    Overall, 27 percent of mothers on food stamps had their
          first birth under age 18; for mothers not receiving
          food stamps, the figure was 15 percent.

     -    About one in three African American mothers of
          childbearing age were food stamp recipients 
          (1.9 million) compared with one in nine for White
          mothers (3.2 million).

     -    One in four Hispanic-origin mothers (1.1 million)
          received food stamps compared to one in seven mothers
          not of Hispanic origin (4.2 million).  

     -    About 13 percent of the nation's 4.2 million 
          foreign-born mothers were on food stamps, and about
          three-quarters of all foreign-born mothers on food
          stamps were not U.S. citizens.

     -    Most (78 percent) of food stamp mothers were jobless,
          41 percent did not have a high-school diploma, and
          about two-thirds lived in families with monthly incomes
          of less than $1,000.

     -    About one-fifth of all food stamp mothers lived in 
          one of the nine census divisions:  the East North
          Central Division, which consists of Ohio, Indiana,
          Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

     The brief is the second in a series of three on mothers who
participate in federal welfare programs.  The first dealt with
recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children.  The 
third will focus on mothers taking part in the Women, Infants and
Children program.  It will be issued later this year.

     As with all surveys, the statistics are subject to sampling
variability, as well as other errors.

                               -X-

Editor's note:  EMBARGOED UNTIL:  AUG. 23, 1995 (WEDNESDAY) -
media representatives may request copies of the statistical brief
from the bureau's Public Information Office by telephone:  
301-457-2794; fax:  301-457-3670; fax-on-demand (document 
no. 1071):  301-457-4178; or e-mail:  pio@census.gov.  Non-media
orders should be directed to the bureau's FastFax:  
1-900-555-2FAX (there is a nominal fee); Customer Services Branch