Family Life and Living Arrangements - Marital Status

The U.S. Census Bureau (June 29, 2005, http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/hh-fam/ms1.pdf) reports that in 2004, 125.8 million Americans (age fifteen and older) were married, up from 95.3 million in 1970 and 112.6 million in 1990. This figure includes both those who did and those who did not live with their spouses. However, the proportion of people of marriage age who were married has decreased steadily since 1960. In 1960, 67.6% of this population was married, dropping to 64.2% in 1970, 61% in 1980, 58.7% in 1990, 56.2% in 2000, and to a low of 55.4% in 2004. The proportion of African-Americans who were married has been lower than the proportion of married adults in the general population since 1950 and has dropped faster as well. Of all African-Americans age fifteen and older, 63.2% were married in 1950, 60.3% in 1960, 55.4% in 1970, 46.5% in 1980, 42.4% in 1990, 39.2% in 2000, and 38.2% in 2004. Among Asians and Pacific Islanders, 53.9% were married in 2003. (See Table 2.1.)

Never Married

Racial differences among never-married people are significant. Among those over age fifteen, African-Americans are far more likely than whites, Hispanics, or Asians and Pacific Islanders to have never married. In 2003, 43.6% of African-Americans had never been married, compared with 24.6% of whites, 32.5% of Asians and Pacific Islanders, and 35.3% of Hispanics. (See Table 2.1.)

One reason that the proportion of never-married individuals age fifteen years and older has increased is that the age at first marriage has steadily risen since 1970 for all races and ethnic groups. The median age of first marriage for women has risen from 20.8 in 1970 to 25.3 in 2003. The median age of first marriage for men has risen from 23.2 in 1970 to 27.1 in 2003. (See Figure 2.1.) This rise in the age of first marriage accounts for some of the decreases in proportions of adults who are married.

Interracial Marriage

The Census Bureau reports that the number of interracial married couples more than tripled between 1980 and 2004. For example, in 1980 there were 167,000 black-white interracial couples; by 2004 there were 413,000 black-white interracial couples. In 1980 there were 450,000 couples with one white spouse and one spouse of a race other than white or black, such as Native American or Asian and Pacific Islander; in 2004, 1.6 million married couples fit this description. Even though the proportion of interracial married couples is rising, the vast majority of married couples continues to be of the

TABLE 2.1 Marital status of people 15 years and over by sex, race, and Hispanic origin, 2003 Adapted from "Table A1. Marital Status of People 15 Years and Over, by Age, Sex, Personal Earnings, Race, and Hispanic Origin, 2003," in America's Families and Living Arrangements: 2003, U.S. Census Bureau, September 15, 2004, http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hh-fam/cps2003.html (accessed December 26, 2005)

TABLE 2.1
Marital status of people 15 years and over by sex, race, and Hispanic origin, 2003
[Numbers in thousands, except for percentages]
	Total	Married spouse present	Married spouse absent	Widowed	Divorced	Separated	Never married	Total	Married spouse present	Married spouse absent	Widowed	Divorced	Separated	Never married
	Number	Number	Number	Number	Number	Number	Number	Percent	Percent	Percent	Percent	Percent	Percent	Percent
SOURCE: Adapted from "Table A1. Marital Status of People 15 Years and Over, by Age, Sex, Personal Earnings, Race, and Hispanic Origin, 2003," in America's Families and Living Arrangements: 2003, U.S. Census Bureau, September 15, 2004, http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hh-fam/cps2003.html (accessed December 26, 2005)
All races
Total 15+	225,057	117,172	3,139	13,995	21,649	4,723	64,380	100.0	52.1	1.4	6.2	9.6	2.1	28.6
Male
Total 15+	108,696	58,586	1,651	2,697	8,976	1,905	34,881	100.0	53.9	1.5	2.5	8.3	1.8	32.1
Female
Total 15+	116,361	58,586	1,488	11,297	12,673	2,817	29,499	100.0	50.3	1.3	9.7	10.9	2.4	25.4
White, non-Hispanic
Total 15+	158,458	88,941	1,367	10,794	16,087	2,237	39,032	100.0	56.1	0.9	6.8	10.2	1.4	24.6
Male
Total 15+	76,656	44,628	622	2,082	6,838	1,000	21,487	100.0	58.2	0.8	2.7	8.9	1.3	28.0
Female
Total 15+	81,802	44,313	745	8,712	9,249	1,237	17,545	100.0	54.2	0.9	10.7	11.3	1.5	21.4
Black
Total 15+	27,042	8,762	517	1,730	2,966	1,284	11,783	100.0	32.4	1.9	6.4	11.0	4.7	43.6
Male
Total 15+	12,159	4,472	207	329	1,063	475	5,612	100.0	36.8	1.7	2.7	8.7	3.9	46.2
Female
Total 15+	14,884	4,290	310	1,400	1,903	809	6,172	100.0	28.8	2.1	9.4	12.8	5.4	41.5
Asian
Total 15+	9,799	5,279	315	418	435	172	3,181	100.0	53.9	3.2	4.3	4.4	1.8	32.5
Male
Total 15+	4,685	2,459	188	70	154	61	1,753	100.0	52.5	4.0	1.5	3.3	1.3	37.4
Female
Total 15+	5,114	2,820	127	347	282	111	1,428	100.0	55.2	2.5	6.8	5.5	2.2	27.9
Hispanic
Total 15+	27,936	13,300	939	918	1,893	1,024	9,862	100.0	47.6	3.4	3.3	6.8	3.7	35.3
Male
Total 15+	14,336	6,599	642	183	803	351	5,758	100.0	46.0	4.5	1.3	5.6	2.4	40.2
Female
Total 15+	13,599	6,701	297	735	1,090	673	4,104	100.0	49.3	2.2	5.4	8.0	4.9	30.2

FIGURE 2.1 Median age at first marriage for the population 15 years and over by sex, 1970–2003 Jason Fields, "Figure 5. Median Age at First Marriage for the Population 15 Years and Over by Sex: 1970 to 2003," in America's Families and Living Arrangements: 2003, Current Population Reports P20-553, U.S. Census Bureau, November 2004, http://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/p20-553.pdf (accessed December 26, 2005)

TABLE 2.2 Married couples by race and Hispanic origin of spouses, 1980–2004 "Table 54. Married Couples by Race and Hispanic Origin of Spouses: 1980 to 2004," in Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2006, U.S. Census Bureau, December 2005, http://www.census.gov/statab/www/(accessed December 27, 2005)

TABLE 2.2
Married couples by race and Hispanic origin of spouses, 1980–2004
[In thousands (49,714 represents 49,714,000). As of March. Persons 15 years old and over. Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race. Excludes members of Armed Forces except those living off post or with their families on post.]
Race and origin of spouses	1980	1990	2000	2004
aIncludes other married couples not shown separately.
b2004 data represent persons who selected this race group only and exclude persons reporting more than one race. The Current Population Survey in prior years only allowed respondents to report one race group.
c"Other race," is any race other than white or black, such as American Indian, Japanese, Chinese, etc. This total excludes combinations of other races by other races.
SOURCE: "Table 54. Married Couples by Race and Hispanic Origin of Spouses: 1980 to 2004," in Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2006, U.S. Census Bureau, December 2005, http://www.census.gov/statab/www/(accessed December 27, 2005)
Married couples, totala	49,714	53,256	56,497	59,064
Interracial married couples, total	651	964	1,464	2,157
Whiteb/blackb	167	211	363	413
Black husband/white wife	122	150	268	287
White husband/black wife	45	61	95	126
Whiteb/other racec	450	720	1,051	1,622
Blackb/other racec	34	33	50	122
Hispanic origin
Hispanic/Hispanic	1,906	3,085	4,739	5,611
Hispanic/other origin (not Hispanic)	891	1,193	1,743	2,076
All other couples (not of Hispanic origin)	46,917	48,979	50,015	51,378

same race. In 1980, 651,000 (1.3%) married couples were interracial; by 2004 there were 2.1 million (3.6%). (See Table 2.2.)

MIXED-RACE CHILDREN

The number of births to mixed-race parents has kept pace with increases in interracial marriage and cohabitation. The change in the question of race for the 2000 census, which enabled people to identify themselves by multiple races, made it easier to track mixed-race Americans. According to the 2000 census, 3.9 million (1.4%) Americans identified themselves as belonging to two or more races. (See Table 2.3.) By 2004 that number had grown to 4.4 million Americans, an increase of 13.9%.

In 2000, 907,000 Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders reported being of mixed race; in 2004 there were 976,000. Approximately 4.4 million Native Americans and Alaska Natives were multiracial in 2004, as opposed to 4.2 million in 2000. In 2000 there were twelve million Asian-Americans who reported that they were multiracial; in 2004 there were 13.9 million. The groups with the smallest proportion claiming a multiracial heritage in the 2000 census were African-Americans (37.1 million, up slightly to 39.2 million in 2004) and whites (231.4 million, which increased to 239.9 million in 2004). (See Table 2.3.)

Divorce

In 2003 the Census Bureau reported that 21.6 million adults (age fifteen and older) were divorced. In other words, nearly one in ten (9.6%) of all people age fifteen years and older were divorced and had not TABLE 2.3 Resident population by race and Hispanic origin status, 2000–04 Adapted from "Table 13. Resident Population by Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin Status: 2000 to 2004," in Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2006, U.S. Census Bureau, December 2005, http://www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/06statab/pop.pdf (accessed December 27, 2005)remarried at the time of the survey—thus, the proportion of ever-divorced people is much higher. A similar proportion of African-Americans, 2.9 million (10.9%), and whites, sixteen million (10.1%), were divorced, while a much lower proportion of Hispanics, 1.9 million (6.7%), and Asian-Americans, 435,000 (4.4%), were divorced. (See Table 2.1.) In Marital Status and Living Arrangements: March 1994 (February 1996, http://www.census.gov/prod/1/pop/p20-484.pdf), Arlene F. Saluter reports that divorce for most groups was up sharply from 1970, when 3.1% of whites, 3.9% of Hispanics, and 4.4% of African-Americans were divorced.

TABLE 2.3
Resident population by race and Hispanic origin status, 2000–04
[In thousands; as of July, except as noted.]
Characteristic	Number (1,000)					Percent change, 2000 to 2004
	2000 (April 1)	2001	2002	2003	2004
*In combination with one or more other races. The sum of the five race groups adds to more than the total population because individuals may report more than one race.
SOURCE: Adapted from "Table 13. Resident Population by Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin Status: 2000 to 2004," in Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2006, U.S. Census Bureau, December 2005, http://www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/06statab/pop.pdf (accessed December 27, 2005)
Both sexes
Total	281,425	285,102	287,941	290,789	293,655	4.3
One race	277,527	281,048	283,761	286,481	289,217	4.2
White	228,107	230,506	232,348	234,199	236,058	3.5
Black or African American	35,705	36,249	36,667	37,082	37,502	5.0
American Indian and Alaska Native	2,664	2,711	2,749	2,787	2,825	6.0
Asian	10,589	11,107	11,512	11,919	12,326	16.4
Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders	463	475	485	495	506	9.3
Two or more races	3,898	4,054	4,180	4,308	4,439	13.9
Race alone or in combination:*
White	231,436	233,978	235,935	237,901	239,880	3.6
Black or African American	37,105	37,744	38,238	38,732	39,232	5.7
American Indian and Alaska Native	4,225	4,280	4,323	4,366	4,409	4.4
Asian	12,007	12,586	13,041	13,498	13,957	16.2
Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders	907	927	944	960	976	7.7
Not Hispanic or Latino	246,118	248,042	249,464	250,887	252,333	2.5
One race	242,712	244,506	245,824	247,141	248,478	2.4
White	195,577	196,320	196,822	197,325	197,841	1.2
Black or African American	34,314	34,813	35,196	35,577	35,964	4.8
American Indian and Alaska Native	2,097	2,130	2,155	2,181	2,207	5.2
Asian	10,357	10,867	11,267	11,667	12,068	16.5
Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders	367	376	383	391	398	8.5
Two or more races	3,406	3,536	3,641	3,747	3,855	13.2
Race alone or in combination:*
White	198,477	199,338	199,935	200,534	201,148	1.3
Black or African American	35,499	36,078	36,526	36,972	37,426	5.4
American Indian and Alaska Native	3,456	3,491	3,518	3,546	3,574	3.4
Asian	11,632	12,196	12,639	13,083	13,530	16.3
Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders	752	767	779	791	803	6.8
Hispanic or Latino	35,306	37,060	38,477	39,902	41,322	17.0
One race	34,815	36,543	37,937	39,340	40,739	17.0
White	32,530	34,186	35,526	36,873	38,217	17.5
Black or African American	1,391	1,436	1,470	1,505	1,539	10.6
American Indian and Alaska Native	566	582	594	606	618	9.1
Asian	232	240	246	252	258	10.9
Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders	95	99	102	105	107	12.6
Two or more races	491	518	539	561	583	18.7
Race alone or in combination:*
White	32,959	34,641	36,000	37,368	38,732	17.5
Black or African American	1,606	1,666	1,713	1,760	1,806	12.5
American Indian and Alaska Native	770	789	805	820	835	8.6
Asian	375	390	402	414	427	13.8
Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders	155	160	165	169	174	12.0

Because men are considerably more likely than women to remarry following divorce, there are significantly higher proportions of currently divorced women than currently divorced men. In 2003, one million (8.7%) African-American men were currently divorced, compared with 1.9 million (12.8%) African-American women; 6.8 million (8.9%) white, non-Hispanic men were divorced, compared with 9.2 million (11.3%) white, non-Hispanic women. Among those of Hispanic origin, 803,000 (5.6%) men and one million (8%) women were divorced. In the Asian and Pacific Islander community, 154,000 (3.3%) men and 282,000 (5.5%) women were divorced. (See Table 2.1.)

Death of a Spouse

In 2003, 13.9 million (6.2%) people age fifteen years and older in the United States were widowed. Across all racial and ethnic groups, more women than men were widowed because of the shorter average lifespan of men, the tendency of wives to be younger than their husbands, and the greater likelihood that men will remarry. This was particularly pronounced in the white and African American communities. More than 8.7 million white women (10.6%) were widowed, compared with only two million (2.7%) white men. A similar proportion of African-American women (1.4 million, 9.4%) were widowed, compared with only 329,000 (2.7%) African-American men. Among Asians and Pacific Islanders, 347,000 (6.8%) women were widowed, compared with 70,000 (1.5%) men. Among Hispanics 735,000 (5.4%) women were widowed, compared with 183,000 (1.3%) men. (See Table 2.1.)