In a sample of more than 400 fifth grade students, the reading comprehension levels of children living with both parents and children living with only one parent were compared. Data were collected on the demographic variables of race, student sex, family organization (two parents/one parent), parent educational level, family occupational prestige, and family income. Two-way analyses of variance were used to ascertain variability attributable either to independent variables or to interaction effects. A trend was evident in which the two-parent, high-prestige cell produced higher reading comprehension. For the below median income level group, one-parent family organization was associated with lower reading comprehension. The difference in reading comprehension between two-parent and one-parent family organization was greater for black students than for white students. Although students from two-parent families tended to have higher reading comprehension scores than students from one-parent families, there was an apparent lack of discrepancy between the family organization patterns in the higher ranges of the socioeconomic variables. Family organization seemed to have a greater impact on the students in lower ranges of the socioeconomic scales. (RL)