Marriage & Divorce

Overview Polls this year have found that more Americans favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally than did so just last year. In two polls conducted over the past few months, based on interviews with more than 6,000 adults, 42% favor same-sex marriage while 48% are opposed. In polls conducted in 2009, 37% favored […]

For the first time in 15 years of Pew Research Center polling, fewer than half oppose same-sex marriage, though, support (42%) remains below opposition (48%). The shift in favor of gay marriage has been broad-based, occurring across many demographic, political and religious groups.

A judge’s decision to overturn California’s ban on same-sex marriage became a reason to celebrate for many bloggers last week. Others rallied behind the website WikiLeaks, following its release of secret information about the war in Afghanistan. On Twitter, the decision by 40 wealthy Americans to donate money to charity drew the most attention. And on YouTube, an Alabama crime stopper became a web sensation.

A federal district court judge struck down California’s ban on gay marriage, ruling that the prohibition violates the U.S. Constitution. The decision, which is expected to be appealed, represents the first time a federal judge has ruled that the U.S. Constitution protects the right of same-sex couples to marry.

Divorce rates declined from 4 per 1,000 people in 2000 to 3.5 divorces per 1,000 in 2008.

According to a new Pew Research Center report on long-duration marriages and divorce, only about half the first marriages begun in the early 1970s lasted until their 25th anniversaries.

Rates of intermarriage have risen in the United States, but trends differ markedly for different race and ethnic groups, according to a new Pew Research Center report that makes extensive use of U.S. Census Bureau data.