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Exploration of Options for the Collection of Marriage and Divorce Statistics at the National, State, and Local Levels - Project Page

Background

This project explored options for the collection of marriage and divorce statistics at the national, state and local levels.  The rationale for the project is that available marriage and divorce data, including event data from states vital registrars and national survey data, are incomplete or of inconsistent quality and that 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; and (3) the needs of diverse users of marriage and divorce data.  The products include information from a national survey on marriage and divorce vital statistics; a webtool that allows the user to generate tabulations from the survey; selected site visits to examine the use of technology to support the collection, storage, and use of vital statistics data; a review of surveys that collect information on marriage and divorce; and a research brief on the new marriage and divorce data collection in the American Community Survey (ACS).

Publications

  1. Collection of Marriage and Divorce Statistics by States
  2. State Marriage and Divorce Vital Statistics Web Tool
  3. Electronic Collection of Marriage and Divorce Statistics: Findings from Seven States
  4. Assessment of Survey Data for the Analysis of Marriage and Divorce at the National, State, and Local Levels
  5. ACS Research Brief:  New Survey Questions Enable Measurement of Marital Transitions

Some of the publications above are available on the web site of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and are not repeated here.  The Vital Statistics Web Tool is maintained on the Lewin Group web site. The final publication, the ACS Research Brief is hosted on ASPEs web site.