Marital Status and Living Arrangements: March 1976 U.S
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CURRENT POPULATION REPORTS Population · Characteristics U.S. Department of Commerce Series P·20, No. 306 BUREAU OF THE CENSUS Issued January 1977 Marital Status and Living Arrangements: March 1976 U.S. Department of Commerce Juanita M. Kreps, Secretary BUREAU OF THE CENSUS Robert L. Hagan, Acting Director Daniel B. Levine, Associate Director for Demographic Fields POPULATION DIVISION Meyer Zitter, Chief ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This report was prepared by Arthur J. Norton, Chief, and Arlene F. Saluter, staff member, of the Marriage and Family Statistics Branch. Assistance was provided by Robert Grymes, Gerda Mudd, and Katherine Campbell. Overall direction was provided by Charles E. Johnson, Jr., Assistant Division Chief (Demographic and Social Statistics Programs), Population Division, and Paul C. Glick, Senior Demographer, Population Division. Sampling review was conducted by Diane Harley and Christina Gibson, Statistical Methods Division. SUGGESTED CITATION U.S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, Series P·20, No. 306, "Marital Status and Living Arrangements: March 1976," U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1977. For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402, and U.S. Department of Commerce district offices. Postage stamps not acceptable; currency submitted at sender's risk. Remittances from foreign countries must be by international money order or by draft on a U.S. bank. Additional charge for foreign mailing, $14.00. All population series reports sold as a single consolidated subscription $56.00 per year. Price for this report $1.40. CURRENT POPULATION REPORTS Population Characteristics Series P-20, No. 306 Issued January 1977 Marital Status and Living Arrangements: March 1976 CONTENTS Page Introduction . 1 Age at first marriage . 2 Divorce ratio . 2 Marital status of primary individuals . 4 Unrelated adults sharing two-person households . 4 Female family heads and children living with only one parent . 5 Related reports . 7 T EXT TABL ES Table A. Median age at first marriage, by sex, for the United States, 1960 to 1976, and for conterminous United States, 1890 to 1959 . .... ........ ... ..... ... .. ... .... .. .... ....... .... .. ... .. 1 B. Quartiles of age at first marriage, by sex: 1963 to 1976 .............. .... .. ........ .. .. ..... 2 c. Percent single (never married), by age and sex: 1976, 1970, and 1960 ....... .... .. .... .. 3 D. Number of divorced persons per 1,000 married persons with spouse present, by age, race, and sex: March 1976, 1970, 1965, and 1960 .... .. .... .......... ....... .. .. .. ......... .... 3 E. Primary individuals by marital status, sex, and age: 1976 and 1970 .. ...... .. ..... ... ....... 4 F. Two-person primary individual households, by age and sex of household members: 1976 and 1970 ...... 5 G. Marital status of female family heads, by race: 1976 and 1970 .. .... .. ............. ...... .. 6 H. Persons under 18 years old, by presence of parents and whether living with mother only, by marital status of mother: 1976 and 1970 ............... .... ... ...... ... .. ................ .... 6 DETAILED TABLES Table 1. Marital status, by age, race and Spanish origin, farm-nonfarm residence, and sex : March 1976 . 9 2. Family status of persons 14 years old and over, by age, race and Spanish origin, and sex: March 1976. ..... 15 3. Family status of persons under 14 years old, by age, race and Spanish origin, and sex: March 1976 . 23 4. Family relationship and presence of parents, for persons under 18 years old, by age and race : March 1976 . 28 5. Presence of parent, by marital status of parent, for persons under 18 years old living with only one parent, by age and race: March 1976 . 29 II CONTENTS-Continuea DETAILED TABLES-Continued Table Page 6. Marital status, by family status, age, race, and sex: March 1976 . 31 7. Secondary individuals sharing living quarters with a primary individual as household head, by age and sex: March 1976 . 43 8. Marital status of family and subfamily heads, by age, race, and sex: March 1976 . 44 9. Marital status, by household headship, age, race, and sex, for regions: March 1976 . 47 APPENDIX -Definitions and explanations . 51 Comparability of estimates from March 1976 CPS with estimates for preceding years. 53 Source and reliability of the estimates . 53 APPENDIX TABLES Table A-1. Standard errors of estimated numbers, total, White or Spanish origin . 56 A-2. Standard errors of estimated numbers, Black and other races . 56 A-3. Standard errors of estimated percentages, total, White or Spanish origin . 57 A-4. Standard errors of estimated percentages, Black and other races . 57 A-5. Factors to be applied to tables A-1 through A-4 to estimate standard errors of family or marital status characteristics . 58 A-6. Numerators and denominators for divorced to married, spouse present (MSP) ratios shown in text table D . 59 MARITAL STATUS AND LIVING ARRANGEMENTS: MARCH 1976 INTRODUCTION and sex, family relationship, presence of parents for persons under 18 years old, and household living ' Annual reports published by the Census Bureau arrangements. The text highlights information on on the marital status and living arrangements of the recent increases in age at first marriage; in the per population portray trends in behavior of adults rela cent remaining single among young adults; in marital tive to marriage, dissolution of marriage, and house disruption through divorce; in the growth rate of hold formation. Survey results over the last several "nonfamily" households; in the incidence of unre years have indicated that fundamental changes are lated persons of the opposite sex sharing living quar occurring in marriage and family living. Whether or ters; in the number of families headed by women not these changes represent only a temporary de with no husband present; and in the number of parture from past norms or the emergence of new children who live in families where only one parent and lasting lifestyles, the fact of their existence has is present. importan·t implications for current social and economic programs and for the future of such The data presented in this report were derived programs. from the March 1976 Current Population Survey (CPS) conducted by the Bureau of the Census and This report presents detailed statistics on the are subject to sampling variability, which may be marital status and living arrangements of the nonin relatively large for the smaller figures and for small stitutional population of the Un ited States. The differences between figures. For a further discussion report includes information on the marital status of of sampling variability see the section on "Reli the population 14 years old and over by age, race, ability of the Estimates" in the appendix. Table A. Median Age at First Marriage, by Sex, for the United Stat~s. 1960 to 1976, and for Conterminous United States, 1890 to 1959 Year Male1 Female Year Mal e 1 Female 197 6 .. •. ......•.. ...... 23.8 21.3 1958 ......... ...... .. 22.6 20.2 197 5 . .. • .......... •.. • 23.5 21.1 1957 .••••........•. ... 22.6 20.3 1974 . .... • . .. • •..... .• 23.l 21.1 1956 . .. .... .. ........ 22.5 20. 1 1973 .. .... ..... • ...... 23.2 21.0 1955 . .. ... ..... ... .. 22 . 6 20 . 2 1972 ..•.. ... ..... ..• . • 23.3 20.9 1954 ........ .......... 23.0 20 . 3 1971 . ......•.•.. • . • ...•.. 23 . l 20 . 9 1953 ............. .. .. 22.8 20 . 2 1970 ...• .• . •....•...... .• 23 . 2 20.8 1952 ........ ......... 23.0 20.2 1969 ••. .. .. ...... ...•.•. 23 . 2 20.8 1951. .. ....... .... 22.9 20 .4 1968 .•... • ... ••... ••. 23.l 20.8 1950 • . .• ... •. .• . .....• 22.8 20 .3 1967 .• •.. ... .. .. •• . 23.l 20 . 6 1949 .. • • . •....... • • .•• 22 .7 20.3 1966 • • ; ..... .. ......... 22.8 20 . 5 1948 • . • .....•.... • . .•. .. 23.3 20 . 4 1965 .•.. • ................ 22.8 20.6 1947 .. •• .... • •. • ...... 23 .7 20.5 1964 . ..•......•. ..•. .••. 23.l 20 . 5 1940 • ....... .... • .... • . 24.3 21.5 1963 . .. .... .• .... •. •. 22 . 8 20 . 5 1930 •..•....• . .......... 24 .3 21.3 1962 • .... ..•............. 22.7 20.3 1920 ••••. •.•. • • •...••• . • 24. 6 21.2 1961 • • .. .... ... •. •.• • 22.8 20 .3 1910 .. • .......... ..•. • . 25.l 21.6 1960 ......•.. • ...••.... 22.8 20.3 1900 .. • • ..... ..... .• .•. 25 . 9 21.9 1959 . ..... .. ... • •.•.••. 22 . 5 . 20.2 1890 • .......•. • .. •.....• 26.1 22.0 1 Figures f or 1947 to 1976 are bas ed on Current Population Survey data supplemented by data from the Department of Defense on marital status by age for men in the Armed Forces. Figures for earlier dates are from decennial censuses. 2 AGE AT FIRST MARRIAGE ages of members of the large birth cohorts born dur ing the high fertility years extending from the late During the 16 years spanning 1960 to 1976, the 1940's through the early 1960's. Nevertheless, a estimated median age at which young men and closer inspection of the figures, particularly those women first marry increased by about one full year for the age groups in which mqst first marriages take (from 22.8 years to 23.8 years for men and from place, indicates a trend towards longer periods of 20.3 to 21.3 years for women). This and other singleness among young adults than in the past. The trends observed in related statistical indicators re percent single for men 20 to 24 years old rose from flect a general movement among young adults away 53 percent in 1960 to 62 percent in 1976 and from from early marriage. For example, the estimates of 28 percent to 43 percent during the same period for the quartile ages at first marriage (the ages by which 20- to 24-year-old women. Furthermore, since 1970 one-fourth and three-fourths of those who ever the percent single among 25- to 29-year-old men and marry do so) shown in table B indicate a movement women has increased, perhaps indicating that not 'In the direction of later age at first marriage. The only has later marriage gained general acceptance central range of years during which most first mar but also that a higher proportion of adults will never riages occur (interquartile range) is somewhat larger marry during their lifetime. for men (6.4 years in 1976) than for women (5.8 years in 1976).