E C O N O M I C R E P O R T O F T H E P R E S I D E N T

Box 5-1.—continuedAlthough most fathers can afford to pay child support (an estimated74 percent of noncustodial fathers have incomes above the povertylevel), about 2.8 million men are “dead-broke,” noncustodial fathers,most of whom do not pay child support. Administration efforts aimedat helping these fathers to work and support their children are detailedlater in this chapter.Increasing life expectancy has also changed the structure of the family. Forexample, over 70 percent of adults aged 30-54 in the early 1990s had livingrelatives who spanned three or more generations, and over 40 percent ofadults aged 50-59 had living family members from four or more generations.In addition, nearly 2.4 million families now have more than two generationsliving under one roof. Longer life expectancy has meant that more grandparentsare able to watch their grandchildren grow to adulthood. And youngergenerations are facing caregiving responsibilities for older relatives. A 1997survey estimated, for example, that 22 percent of all U.S. households providecare for an elderly person.At the same time, grandparents have also become more important as caregivers—includingprimary caregivers. Over the last three decades, for example,the share of children under age 18 living in a household headed by agrandparent has risen by more than 70 percent (Chart 5-5). Most of the174 | Economic Report of the President