Change in the Reporting of Marriage and Divorce Statistics

Information on the total numbers and rates of marriages and divorces at the national and State levels are published in the NCHS National Vital Statistics Reports.  The collection of detailed data was suspended beginning in January 1996 (See Federal Register Notice, Dec. 15, 1995).  Limitations in the information collected by the States as well as budgetary considerations necessitated this action.   The most recent comprehensive analyses of detailed marriage and divorce data are published in Advance Report of Final Marriage Statistics, 1989-90 and Advance Report of Final Divorce Statistics, 1989-90.

The National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), conducted by NCHS, collected detailed data on cohabitation, marriage, divorce and remarriage.  These data were published in Series 23, Number 22, "Cohabitation, Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage in the United States".

The U.S. Bureau of the Census is another Federal source of marriage and divorce statistics. Census data are survey- rather than records-based and cover many aspects of marriage and divorce patterns in the United States.  For further information on this subject, please contact either:

Data Dissemination Branch, Room 5407
Division of  Data Services
National Center Health Statistics
Phone: 301-458-4636
E-mail: nchsquery@cdc.gov

or

Public Affairs Office, Room 1050
Phone:  at 301-458-4800
E-mail: paoquery@cdc.gov

Other Federal marriage and divorce statistics are available from the U.S. Bureau of the Census, 301-457-2465.

This page last reviewed October 06, 2006