Which term describes a family consisting of one parent living with one or more of their children?

• A. Single person household
• B. Cohabitation
• C. Lone parent family
• D. Family

Answer: (C)

This question tests how we name household types by who lives in the home. When one parent lives with their children, the household is described as a lone-parent family (also called a single-parent family). The key idea is that there is only one adult parent in the home, with dependent children, which sets it apart from two-parent or cohabiting arrangements.

This isn’t a single person household, because there are children present. It isn’t cohabitation, because that involves two adults in a romantic or intimate partnership living together. And it isn’t described simply as a “family” in general, since that term doesn’t specify the absence of a second parental adult. The term lone-parent family precisely captures the situation of one adult parent and their children.