An Exploration of Options for the Collection of Marriage and Divorce Statistics at the National, State and Local Levels, 2003–2008

An Exploration of Options for the Collection of Marriage and Divorce Statistics at the National, State and Local Levels project explored options for the collection of marriage and divorce statistics at the national, state and local levels. Available marriage and divorce data, including event data from states’ vital registrars and national survey data, are incomplete or of inconsistent quality. Existing data are not adequate to meet the needs of researchers, program planners, or policy makers. The project included the examination of: (1) current and potential vital statistics and survey data collection methods; (2) data quality and data infrastructure issues at the national, state and local levels; (3) the needs of a variety of types of users of marriage and divorce data. The products included information about options regarding the collection and use of data on marriage and divorce and on promising practices exhibited by state and local agencies in the use of technology to support the collection, storage and use of vital statistics data.