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Marriage and Divorce Statistics

Marriage and divorce data are used to track, analyze, explain, and interpret social changes and to predict the future course of events. Researchers and policymakers use this data to support policy development, program planning, implementation, and evaluation strategies. Data is used to determine if specific community programs are effective and to develop community programs.

Survey Data

• Single point in time (cross-sectional) surveys that do not include retrospective relationship information:
  • American Community Survey
  • Current Population Survey
  • Decennial Census
  • National Survey of America's Families
• Cross-sectional surveys that include retrospective relationship information:
  • National Survey of Family Growth
• Surveys that track the same individuals over time (longitudinal or panel surveys) but provide no retrospective information:
  • Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study
• Longitudinal surveys that also contain retrospective relationship data:
  • Survey of Income and Program Participation
  • National Survey of Families and Households
  • Panel Study of Income Dynamics
  • National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979
  • National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997

Related NHMRC Fact Sheets

• Trends in Median Age at First Marriage (PDF - 92 KB)
• Trends in Percent Ever Married by Age and Race/Ethnicity (PDF - 139 KB)
• Trends in Marriage Rate (PDF - 82 KB)
• Attitudes toward Marriage (PDF - 107 KB)

Additional Statistics Available Online

• The Marriage Measures Guide of State-Level Statistics: This report for ASPE, by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., is designed to assist policymakers and marriage program operators with this decision making process. Drawing on data from several sources, the guide provides policymakers and program operators with a broad range of State-level statistical information they can use to better assess the characteristics and needs of their State populations, identify high-priority target populations, and make informed decisions about the design and implementation of their healthy marriage programs. 
• State Policies to Promote Marriage (Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation): This report for ASPE, by The Lewin Group, inventories State policies directly focused on promoting or supporting marriage. One section focuses on the types of marriage and divorce data collected in State vital statistics systems.
• National Center for Health Statistics: Marriage and divorce statistics.
• Marital Status and Living Arrangements data (U.S. Bureau of the Census): Current Population Survey (CPS) for the Nation, collected each March, with limited detail for States and some metropolitan areas. More data on marital status and living arrangements for States, metropolitan areas, and other geographic locations are shown in the decennial census.
• American FactFinder (U.S. Bureau of the Census): State-by-State profiles with limited marriage information.
• National Survey of Family Growth: Information on family life, marriage and divorce, pregnancy, infertility, use of contraception, and men's and women's health. The survey results are used by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and others to plan health services and health education programs, and to do statistical studies of families, fertility, and health.
• Population Research Centers. A number of university-affiliated population research centers publish research related to family structure, including analysis of survey data. These include:
  • Pennsylvania State University Population Research Institute.
  • Princeton University Office of Population Research.
  • University of Maryland Population Research Center.
  • Carolina Population Center.
• National Marriage Project (University of Virginia): Provides research and analysis on the state of marriage in America. A section of the annual State of Our Unions tracks social indicators.
• Family Focus On... Divorce and Relationship Dissolution. (PDF - 366 KB) (National Council on Family Relations): Discusses the divorce rate and various factors involved in calculating and conceptualizing it.
• Council on Contemporary Families: Tricky Business of Estimating Divorce. What is meant by the often-cited statistic that 50 percent of marriages end in divorce?

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