Families come in all shapes and sizes. And for a majority of Americans, family includes their pets. Most Americans (62%) own a pet, including about a third (35%) who have more than one. And nearly all U.S. pet owners (97%) say their pets are part of their family, said the Pew Research Center survey.
About half of pet owners (51%) not only consider their pets to be a part of their family but say they are as much a part of their family as a human member. Groups that are more likely to say this include:
-Women: 57% of women pet owners say their pets are just as much a part of their family as a human member, compared with 43% of men who own pets.
-People with lower family incomes: 64% of pet owners in this group consider their pets to be as much a part of their family as a human member, compared with 46% of those with middle incomes and 43% of those with higher incomes.
-People living in urban areas: 61% of pet owners in urban areas say their pets are as much a part of their family as a human member, compared with 50% of those in rural areas and 47% in the suburbs.
The share of pet owners who think of their pets as part of their family as much as a human member doesn’t vary notably by age, race or ethnicity.
Pet owners’ family situation is also related to how they think about their pets. Unmarried pet owners and those who do not have children younger than 18 at home are the most likely to consider their pets to be as much a part of their family as a human member.
What about dog owners versus cat owners? The difference is narrow, but those who only have dogs (53%) are more likely than those who only have cats (48%) to think of their pets in the same way they think of a human family member.
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