More on Marriage and Divorce Data

We posted below on the lack of detailed information on marriage and divorce. There are alternative resources available at the National Center for Health Statistics that enable one to draw inferences as to the marriage and divorce patterns of Americans.

In July 2002, we published Cohabitation, Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage in the United States. From our press release at the time:

Among the findings in the report: unmarried cohabitations overall are less stable than marriages.  The probability of a first marriage ending in separation or divorce within 5 years is 20 percent, but the probability of a premarital cohabitation breaking up within 5 years is 49 percent.  After 10 years, the probability of a first marriage ending is 33 percent, compared with 62 percent for cohabitations.

The study suggests that both cohabitations and marriages tend to last longer under certain conditions, such as:  a woman’s age at the time cohabitation or marriage began; whether she was raised throughout childhood in an intact 2-parent family; whether religion plays an important role in her life; and whether she had a higher family income or lived in a community with high median family income, low male unemployment, and low poverty.

The tabular data provides a wealth of information cross tabbed by age, education, income, etc. It is a must-read for anyone writing on this subject. If you have questions give us a call at 301.458.4800.