This report draws together statistics from various sources to provide the user with a convenient and comprehensive portrayal of trends in the incidence of female family headship. Data are presented on the social and economic characteristics of women who head families and, in general, the conditions in which these women and the members of their families live. The estimates in this report for 1973 and some of those for 1960 and 1970 are based on data obtained in the current population survey of the Bureau of the Census. The present sample is spread over 461 cities comprising 923 counties and independent cities with coverage in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Some of the highlights involving female heads and the members of their families featured in the main part of the text include: Since 1960 there has been a 10 percent increase in the number of white female family heads and a 35 percent increase in the number of Negro female family heads. Between 1960 and 1973 the median age of women who headed families declined by about five years, with Negro family heads now about nine years younger than their white counterparts. There has been an increase in the proportion of female heads who are divorced, separated, or single and a decline in those who were widowed. (Author/JM)