More than half of family households in parts of the District of Columbia and Prince George's County are run by single parents

The section of D.C. across the Anacostia River is home to the biggest percentage of single-parent households, with 65% of family households run by women and 9% run by men. The remaining one-quarter of the roughly 32,000 family households are run by married couples, according to the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. A family household is one in which the head of the house is caring for another family member or adopted member. Experts say in most cases that family member is a child. Other areas in which more than half of families are run by single parents include the remainder of Southeast D.C. and most of Northeast D.C. and areas in Prince George's near the Capital Beltway. That these areas have a high minority population, particularly among blacks and Hispanics, is not a coincidence, said Ron Haskins, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. "About 70% of black kids are born outside marriage, and then you have those born in a marriage, about half of them end in divorce," he said. "And first-generation Hispanics have a relatively low divorce rate ... but once you get into the second generation that disappears."