Marriage & Divorce

The 2010 midterm elections renewed discussions about civil unions and same-sex marriage laws in several states, including Hawaii, Minnesota, Illinois and Iowa. Hawaii The election of Democrat Neil Abercrombie as governor of Hawaii may make it more likely that a bill legalizing civil unions for same-sex couples could become law in the state, according to […]

A report from the center's Social & Demographic Trends project, "The Decline of Marriage and Rise of New Families," finds that nearly four-in-ten Americans (39%) say that marriage is becoming obsolete.

The pre-eminent family unit of the mid-20th century—mom, dad and the kids—no longer has the stage to itself. A variety of new arrangements have emerged, giving rise to a broader and evolving definition of what constitutes a family.

There is wide interest by researchers and journalists in finding data from the Census Bureau and other sources that could illustrate the impacts of the Great Recession on American life.

When researchers look at possible links among social, economic and demographic trends -- such as the current recession and declining marriage rates -- they face a challenge. Two trends may be heading in the same direction, but are they related? Correlation, the statisticians frequently warn, is no guarantee of causation.

Throughout the 20th century, college-educated Americans were less likely to be married by age 30 than Americans without a college degree.

In a reversal of long-standing marital patterns, college-educated young adults are more likely than young adults lacking a bachelor’s degree to have married by the age of 30.

In a reversal of long-standing marital patterns, college-educated young adults are now slightly more likely than young adults lacking a bachelor's degree to have married by the age of 30.