The Nation - News from May 5, 1989

The typical American household, which contained 5.79 people when the first census was taken in 1790, is down statistically to just over 2 1/2 people, a record low, the Census Bureau said. The household is shrinking as families have fewer children, more young people set up housekeeping on their own and the number of elderly maintaining their own households grows. There were 91.5 million households in the country as of last July 1, the bureau said, with an average population of 2.62 people each. That was down from 2.64 people a year earlier and 2.75 people in the 1980 census.