Key Statistics from the National Survey of Family Growth

 

M Listing

• Marriage
  • Ever married
  • Current marital status
  • Marriage probability
  • Outcome of first marriage (marital dissolution and divorce) -See Divorce and marital disruption
  • Attitudes about marriage - See Attitudes: Marriage and cohabitation
• Menarche
• Mistimed pregnancy

 

Marriage

 

Ever married

Percent of women and men 15-44 years of age who were ever married:

	20021-2	2006-20103
Women	58.2%	53.2%
Men	50.7%	45.2%

Sources:

¹Series 23, No. 25, Table 47 [PDF - 4.7 MB]
²Series 23, No. 26, Table 30 [PDF - 3.5 MB]
³Special tabulation by NCHS

 

Current marital status

Percent distribution of women 15-44 years of age by current marital status:

	1982	1995	2002	2006-2010
First marriage	44.1%	39.9%	37.5%	36.4%
Second or higher marriage	8.1%	9.3%	8.5%	5.1%
Cohabiting	3.0%	7.0%	9.0%	11.2%
Never married	33.5%	33.4%	35.0%	38.2%
Formerly married	11.3%	10.3%	9.9%	9.2%

 

Percent distribution of men 15-44 years of age by current marital status:

	2002	2006-2010
First marriage	35.0%	32.8%
Second or higher marriage	7.2%	4.8%
Cohabiting	9.2%	12.2%
Never married	41.6%	45.0%
Formally married	7.0%	5.2%

Source: NHSR No. 49, Table 1&2 [PDF - 419 KB]

 

Marriage probability

Probability of first marriage among women 15-44 years of age before reaching specified age:

	1995	2002	2006-2010
By age 20	25%	17%	13%
By age 25	59%	52%	44%
By age 30	76%	73%	68%
By age 35	84%	81%	78%
By age 40	86%	86%	84%

 

Probability of first marriage among men 15-44 years of age before reaching specified age:

	2002	2006-2010
By age 20	8%	5%
By age 25	36%	31%
By age 30	61%	56%
By age 35	75%	71%
By age 40	81%	78%

Source: NHSR No. 49, Table 3&4 [PDF - 419 KB]

 

Menarche (age at first menstrual period)

 

	20021	2006-20102
Mean age at first menstrual period for women 15-44 years of age	12.6 years	12.5 years

Sources:

¹Series 23, No. 25, Table 30 [PDF - 4.7 MB]
²Special tabulation by NCHS

Mistimed pregnancy

 

Percent of pregnancies that were mistimed (i.e., a pregnancy that the mother wanted to have eventually but it occurred too soon) among women 15-44 years of age:

	1982	1988	1995	2002	2006-2010
Mistimed	26.7%	26.7%	20.5%	20.8%	23.3%

Source: NHSR No. 55, Table 1 [PDF - 417 KB]

 

Percent distribution of mistimed pregnancies (leading to births or spontaneous loss in the three years before the interview) to women 15-44 years of age in 2006-2010, by how much too soon it occurred:

• Less than 2 years too soon: 37.3%
• 2-3 years too soon: 22.4%
• 3 or more years too soon: 40.3%

Source: Special tabulation by NCHS