NATIONAL CENTER Series 21 

For HEALTH STATISTICS I Number 18 

VITAL and HEALTH STATISTICS 

DATA FROM THE NATIONAL VITAL STATISTICS SYSTEM 

Children of 

DivorcedCouples: 

United States, Sekcted Years 

Numbers of children under 18 years of age involved in 

divorce cases in the United States and individual States, 

ratios of children per divorce decree, divorce rates by 

number of children, and characteristics of divorced e -

sons by number of chi Idren reported. !%b?w’ 

p}j~~~~$wfii.. 

EDIToR\w 

flF WF +$!C:;:;$NG? 

iJti@Y 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE


Public Health Service


Health Services and Mental Health Administration


, Washington, D.C. February” 1970 
Public Health Service l% blication No. 1000-Series 21-No. 18 

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office 

Washington, D. C., 20402- Price 50cents 
NATIONAL CENTER FOR HEALTH STATISTICS 

THEODORE D.WOOLSEY, Director 

PHILIP S. LAWRENCE, SC. D., Associate Director 

OSWALD K. SAGEN, PH. D.,, Assistant Director /or Health Statistics Development 

WALT R. SIMMONS, M.A., Assistant Director for Research and Scientific Development 

ALICE M. WATERHOUSE, M. D., Medical Consultant 

JAMES E. KELLY, D.D.S., Dental Advisor 

EDWARD E. MINTY, ‘Executive O//icer 

MA RGERY R. CUNNINGHAM, hz/ormation O//icer 

DIVISION OF VITAL STATISTICS 

ROBERT A.ISRAEL, M.S., Director 

ROBERT A.ISRAEL.,M.S.,Acting Cbie/, Mortality Statistics Branch 

JOHN E. PATTERSON, Chief, Natality Statistics Branch 

LOREN E. CHANCELLOR, Chic/, Registration Methods Branch 

ALICE M. HETZEL, Chief, Marriage and Divorce Statistics Branch 

ARNE B. NELSON, M.A.,Chic/, vital Records Survey Branch 

MICHAEL J.ZUGZDA, Chic/, Statistical Resources Section 

Public Health Service Publication No. 1000-Series 21 No. 18 

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 71-601430 
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CONTENTS


Page 

Trend Data on Chiltien


Trend in the Number of Chil&en------------'-------------------------


Trend in the Rate ad the Mean --------------------------------------


Data.for 1867-1906-J


Trend in the Distribution ---=,7----- .


National and Regional Data-+-------------'------------------------------


TheNumberof Children--~---------J


Likelihood of Divorce by Number of"Chil&en-------+------------------


Distribution of Divorces by Number of ChiMren


Race of the Child--------------~----~------------------~-L"-------------

State Data ------------------------------------------------------------


The Available Information


Variation Among States


Available Information About Parents of the Children Invoive&-------------

Children by Age of Parents at Decree


Distributionof Chiltien by Age of Parents


Number of Children by Age of Pments----------------------=---------


Children by Age of Paregts at Marriage


Children by Marriage Order of Parents


Children by Age, Color, and Marriage Order of Parents


Age at Decree


Age at Marriage


Children by Resident Status of the Defendant Parent


Children by Duration of Marriage


National, Regional, and State Data ------------------------------------


Distributionof Divorces by Number of Children and Duration


Children by Duration, Marriage Order, and Color


References


Detailed Tables


Appendix: Sources and Quali~ of Data-------------------=---------------

Sources of Data----------------------------------=-----------------

The Available Data -------------------------------------------------

Completeness of Data-----------------------`-----------------------


Summary Measures


Estimation of the Number of Children Involved forStates ~---------


Estimates of the National Number of Children Involved


Rates


Estimation of Statistics Based on Probability Sample


Sampling Errors of Estimates


,...


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8 

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IN RECENT YEARS, oveY one-half million childven have been involved in divovce cases each yeav, and this numbe-r is increasing. The 

mean number oj children pev decree increased jVom 0.78 in 1950 to 1.36 

in 1964,. but declined to 1.32 in 1965, the fivst such decline since 1950. 

The nutional rate per 1,000 children undev 18 years increased j%om 6.3 

in 1950 to 8.9 in 1965. Similav changes were found in the 29 Stutes which 

vepovted the statistical infomtion. 

The likelihood of divorce was highev fov small than fov large families. 

In the United States, in 1960, the divorce rate was 18.7 pev 1,000 couples with no childven and 8.9 pW 1,000 couples with children wn.dev 18 

years of age. Among the latter, the vate vavied between 11.4 fov couples 

with one child and 6.0 fov those with fouv or move children. 

Special tabulations were pvepaved fov divorces classified by number of 

children and othev chuvacteristics repovted on divovce records. These 

tabulations weve limited to five States: Hawaii, Iowa, Missouri, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. The mean num bev of children pev decvee declined with the increasing age of pavents at marriage and was smallev 

fo~ vemawied than fov first-married pwwons even when the age at 

marriage was kept constunt. Pronounced differences were found among 

racial groups-the mean numbers of children were highest fov nonwhite 

couples other than Negroes, and lowest fov Negroes, with values fov 

white couples falling in between. 

As expected, the means increased with increasing age at decvee and 

with increasing duva tion of marriage, but declined for oldev people, 

because most children weve ovev 18 yews and not reported in divorce 

proceedings. 

The mean was highar when the wife, rather than the hwsband, was the 

plaintifJ it V-KMalso hi,ghe-r when both plaintvf and defendant lived in the 

State wheve the decvee was granted. 

SYMBOLS 

Data not available 

Category not applicable . . . 

Quantity zero-----------------------:---- -

Quantity more than O but less than 0.05---- 0.0 

Figure does not meet standards of * reliability or precision 
�

�

�

CHILDREN OF DIVORCED COUPLES


Alexander A. Plateris, Ph. D., Diviswn of Vitul Statistics 

TREND DATA ON CHILDREN 

Trend in the Number of Children 

In recent years, about nine children out of 

each 1,000 representing over one-half million 

children have been involved each year in divorces. 

The number of children involved is now six times 

larger than it was in 1922 and has doubled since 

1950. 

The total number of children involved in divorce in the United States can be estimated for 

two separate periods of time: 1922-32 and 1950-

65. The national estimates are shown in table 1; 

the estimating methods are discussed in the appendix. The lack of information for the 1933-49 

period precludes the investigation of these statistics during the rapid increase and decline of 

the divorce rates following World War II. 

Data in table 1 indicate that during both 

:,periods for which information is available, the 

number of children of divorced parents increased, 

aid this increase was more pronounced than the ., 

,. comparable increase in the total number of divorces (fig. 1). The ratio between the divorce 

totals for 1965 and 19.22, the first year for which 

information about children is available, was 3.2, 

but the comparable ratio for the children involved 

was 6.8. 

Trend in the Rate and the Mean 

The child involvement rate per 1,000 children 

under 18 years of age in the population grew from 

2.3 in 1922 to 3.2 in 1929, while during the depression it feil to 2.7 in 1932. In the years 1950-

58 the rate varied between 6.1 and 6.5, but afterward it began a steep increase, reaching 8.9 in 

1965. The trend of the child iimolvement rate was 

closely associated with the trend of the divorce 

rate, which declined during the depression as 

well as in the early fifties and varied very little 

in the midfifties. However, since 1958, the child 

involvement rate has increased more rapidly than 

the divorce rate. The child involvement rate is 

also affected by the declining numbers of births. 

The population of children under 5 years of age 

650,000


,,,..’ 

600,000 ..*-

*.-

..-

550,000 .F 

...” 

500,000


450,000


400,006


350,000 

:2,$.s 

,6,.* **,,* *** *.* 

300,000 . I@” 

o~ 

1950 ’52 ’54 ’58 ’60 *2 ’64 ’65


YEARS


Figure 1. Number of divorce and annulment decrees


granted and number of children inwl ved: Un ited


States, 1950-65.


1


/ 

1 
declined by 1.3 percent from 1964 to 1965. Though statistics, for the years 1867 through 1906, since


the Lotal population of children under 18 was still the high proportion of decrees with no information


increasing in 1965, this increase was very small— on children does not permit the calculation of


0.3 percent from 1964 to 1965, when compared reliable averages for all divorces.


with 2.0 percent from 1963 to 1964.1 Data for the years 1867 through 1906 were


The mean number of children per decree had collected at two different times, each representa trend independent from that of the divorce rate; ing a 20-year period— 1867 through 1886, and 

it increased consistently throughout the years, 1887 through 1906. Differences between the means 

although its values for two consecutive years for the two periods may be due, in part, to difwere equal in a few cases, and there was only one ferences in the methods used and to the higher 

decline, that for 1965. completeness and reliability y of data for the second 

The proportion of divorces with children in- 20- year period. The means” and the completeness 

volved represented only 34.0 percent of decrees of reporting in selected years are shown below: 

granted in 1922; this percentage increased to 

40.8 in 1932, 44.0 in 1950, and 62.6 in 1964, but 

declined to 59.8 in 1965 (table 2). The ratio of Year decree with children not sCated 

children to divorce decrees with children reported declined during the 1920’s and the early 

1930’s, increased in the 1950’s and the early 

1960’s, and declined again from 1964 to 1965. The 

1867---

1872---

1877---

,2.10 

2.02 

2.06 

44.2 

43.5 

43.7 

percentage changes of these two measures were 1882--- 2.10 42.4 

as follows: 1886--- 2.10 40.7 

1887--- 1.91 22.2 

Percentage change 1892---

1897---

1.88 

1.88 

19.3 

20.6 

Children per Percent 

Selected 1902--- 1.87 19.2 item 1906--- 1.84 18.8 1922-65 1922-32 1950-65 

Proportion Trend in the Distribution 

reporting 

children---- +75.9 +20.0 +35 .9 The trends in the total number of children 

Ratio of 

children to 

and in various summary measures reflect changes 

divorces in the distribution of divorces by number of 

reporting children reported. Since comparatively large difchildren---- +17.4 -5.4 +22.7 ferences in this distribution are found among the 

individual States, a trend can be. observed only if 

The increase of the proportion reporting statistics of a uniform group of States are used 

children was pronounced, but the ratio of children for all years under consideration. Unfortunately, 

per decree with children reported increased to a due to changes in the reporting States, the trend 

much smaller degree. The 1922-32 data also in- of the distribution could be studied only for a 

dicate that the mean number of children per di- comparatively small number of years, from 1961 

vorce with children is an unsatisfactory indicator through 1965 (table 3). 

of the general trend, since it declined during the Data from the 16 registration States where 

years 1922-32, when the number of children and children were reported with a high degree of 

all other measures were increasing. completeness show comparatively little variation 

in the annual distributions of divorces by number 

Data for 1867-1906 of children, but the proportion of couples report-~ 

ing no children declined in all years shown in the 

Despite its weaknesses, the mean number of table with a single exception, and proportions of 

children per divorce with children is the only cases with two or more children showed slight 

measure available for the early period of divorce increases. 

2 
NATIONAL AND REGIONAL DATA 

The Number of Children 

In recent years, national and regional divorce 

data on the number of children were compiled 

only for 1960. Two tabulations of children of divorced couples were undertaken-divorces and 

annulments by number of children reported, from 

which the actual numbers of children were estimated, and divorces and annulments by duration 

of marriage and number of children. 

Data in table 4 show that in 1960 there were 

pronounced differences among the four regions— 

the child involvement rate in the West was almost 

three times as high, and that in the North Central 

and the South about twice as high, as that in the 

Northeast (fig. 2). Though the number of children 

involved was comparatively small in the Northeast, the number of divorces granted was proportionally still smaller (11.8 and 9.9 percent of the 

respective national totals), thus yielding a mean . 

12.0 

[ I07 

I 

10.0


t


United 

States 

Figure 2. Child ievolvement rate-number of children 

involved in divorce per 1,000 children under 18 

years of age: United States and each region, 1960. 

I	 200r 18.7 

18.0 

16.0 

14.0 -

g 12.0 11.4 

K 

g 10.0 

m 8.9 

0 

~ 8.0 

6.0 

4.0 – 

2.0 

0 L 

I All Na Children I 2 3 4+ 

decrees children reported 

I NUMBER OF CHILDREN PER DIVORCE 

Figure 3.. Divorce rate by number of ch iIdren reported—per 1,00D-couples with a given number of 

ch ildren: Un ited States, 1960. 

number of children per divorce of 1.40 which 

was much higher than that of the other three regions. The mean numbers were similar for the 

North Central, the Sou& and the West being 1.22, 

1.11, and 1.14, respectively. 

Likelihood of Divorce by Number of Children 

The question is often raised whether the presence of children contributes to the stability of the 

parental couple. The question can also be asked 

,whether the stability tends to increase when the 

number of children increases. The available data 

indicate that affirmative answers can be given to 

both questions: 

Divorce rates by ,numl%r of children reported 

‘ were computed from 1960 data for the United 

States and each region (table 5 and for the United 

States, fig. 3). Due to limitations of the available 

population bases, the regional rates are less 

detailed than the national rates. Methods used for ,...,computing these rates are discussed in the appendix. In the United States and in each region, 

the divorce rate for couples without children is 

higher than for couples ‘with children. In the North . . 

3 
Central, South, and West Regions it is more than 

twice as high, but the difference is considerably 

smaller in the Northeast. For families with children, divorce rates decline with increasing numbers of children. 

The likelihood of divorce declines with the 

increasing number of childr&n, but it also declines 

with the increasing age of husband and wifeg and 

increasing duration of marriage. 3 These four 

variables (number of children, age of husband, 

age of wife, and duration of marriage) are directly 

associated, but from the available data it is impossible to ascertain how the likelihood of divorce 

is affected by each of these variables taken 

separately. Probably, the likelihood of divorce is 

inversely associated with each of these variables 

when the other three are held constant. 

Distribution of Divorces by 

Number of Children 

Two out of every five couples divorced in the 

United States in 1960 reported no children, another 

two couples reported small families with one or 

two children, and about one couple had three or 

more children (table 6). The proportion of divorces declined with each additional child—from 

43.3 percent for cases where no children were 

reported, to 4.0 percent for couples with four 

children and 2.6 percent for still larger families. 

Divorces reporting five or more children were 

not tabulated separately because of the relatively 

small numbers involved and thus the number of 

children in the largest divorced families remains 

unknown. However, 1963 dara indicate that occasionally very large families are broken by divorce. In this year, 37 divorced couples in the 

divorce- registration area reported more than 10 

children, or about one couple out of every 3,800. 

The largest family divorced in the DRA in 1963 

and included in the sample of divorce records 

was reported to have 18 children. 

In the North Central, South, and West Regions the percentage distribution of divorces by 

number of children reported was similar to the 

national average. However, in the Northeast the 

percent of divorced couples with no children was 

about 12 points below the national average, while 

the percent of families with one child was 7 points 

above the average. Hence, the combined categories 

with no children and with one child in the Northeast differed comparatively little from the national 

figure of 66 percent. Divorced couples with four 

or more children were most frequently found in 

the two northern regions (7.6 and 7.7 percent) 

and least frequently in the West (5.4). 

RACE OF THE CHILD 

Characteristics of children involved in divorce cases are not recorded on the divorce 

certificate; all that is known about them is that 

they are less than 18 years of age, though the 

upper age limit varies slightly among the reporting States (see appendix). The only characteristic 

of the children that can be deduced from the information about the parents, given on the certificate, is race. If both parents belong to the same 

race, their children are automatically considered 

to belong to the racial group of their parents. 

When one parent is white and the other nonwhite, 

children are considered to belong to the racial 

group of the nonwhite parent. Hence, it is possible 

to speak not only about the race of the parents, 

but also about the race of the children. However, 

such data are available only for six States: Hawaii, 

Iowa, Missouri, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin (information about children OFparents belonging to two different nonwhite races was not tabulated separately). 

The distribution of children by race depends 

on the distribution of the State population weighted 

by race-specific divorce rates and by the number 

of children per divorce, both of which tend to vary 

among racial groups within a State, In the five 

continental States the overwhelming majority of 

all children involved in divorce were white and 

a minority Negro, while very few belonged to 

other races or were born to couples where one 

parent was white, the other nonwhite; in some 

States, no children belonging to the latter categories were reported. In Hawaii, the situation 

was reversed; about one-half of all children were 

nonwhite, other than Negro, an additional onefourth were born to white-nonwhite couples, and 

only one-fourth were white, while the number of 

Negro children was negligible. 

The mean numbers per decree are lower for 

Negro children than for white children, while the 

means for children of other races are the highest. 

A 
-------------------

------------------------

------------------------

--------------------

Figures for children of racially mixed couples 

have means similar to those of the combined nonwhite groups in their State (table 7 and fig 4). 

However, this pattern has to be qualified, because 

of the small numbers of some racial groups. 

Frequencies for white children are large enough 

to yieid reliable means in-all six States, but reliable data for Negroes are available only from 

the five continental States and reliable data for 

the other nonwhite and for interracial children 

are available only from Hawaii. There were some 

Negro children involved in divorces in Hawaii, 

and other nonwhite children and children of racially mixed couples in some continental States. 

Their means fall into the pattern described above, 

but the numbers of children were very small, (51 

children, or less). Hence, the comparison between 

white and other nonwhite children is based on 

data from one State only and in no single State 

can the comparison be made between Negro and 

other nonwhite children. It is not known whether 

2.08 

2.0 

I .79 

1.5 

1.31 

1.22 

L 

0 

I .0 

0.5 

0 

‘One parent white, the other nonwhite 

Figure k Mean number of children per decree by race:


total of six selected States, 1963.


the high mean found in Hawaii for the other nonwhite children is duplicated on the continent, 

though the figure for Wisconsin strongly suggests 

it. On the other hand, the racial composition of 

the other nonwhite group varies between States, 

and this may be reflected in their mean number 

of children. 

The pattern of the mean numbers of children 

per divorce with children differs from that described above, since means for white children 

are lower than those for Negroes. In the six 

States combined these means are as follows: 

All children 2.19 

White 2.16 

Negro 2.29 

Other ------------------------- 2.75 

Interracial 2.44 

The differences among the racial groups are 

much less pronounced here than those for the 

mean numbers per all decrees. This is due to 

the varying proportions of divorces with no children reported (table 8). For divorces of Negroes 

this proportion is more than twice that for the 

other nonwhite couples, 52.7 and 24.5 percent, 

respectively, with the percentage for white couples 

falling in between (39.5). The proportion of 

couples with large families divorced during the 

year varied also among the races—couples with 

three children or more involved comprised 35.8 

percent of all divorces of the other nonwhite, 

19.0 percent of the white, and 15.5 percent of the 

Negro divorces. 

The cause of the variations between races 

is not clear from the available data because they 

do not seem to reflect race-specific birth fates 

or differences in the duration of marriage of 

parents at time of divorce. 

STATE DATA 

The Available Information 

Divorce data, including information about 

children involved in divorce cases, were collected 

for the United States and for eacli kdividual 

State for the years 1867-1906 and 1922-32. In 

more recent years, this information has been 

obtained only from limited numbers of States. 

Even in 1960, when national and regional data 

5

were collected, the sample design was such that 

statistics by State could be tabulated only for 

areas participating in the divorce-registration 

area (DRA). 

During the 16-year period 1950-65, information about children was reported by 29 States, 

but never by all these States in the same year. 

The number of reporting States declined from 23 

in 1957 to 12 in 1958. This decline was due to the 

establishment of the DRA in 1958, which led to 

the exclusion of many States that had satisfactorily reported the number of children, but lacked 

information on personal characteristics of hus -

bands and wives. 

For 1958 and subsequent years, information 

concerning children of divorced couples was obtained from the vital statistics publications of 

several States that do not participate in the DRA 

(Florida, Maine, Mississippi, New Hampshire, 

and North Dakota) or which were admitted after 

the DRA was initially organized (Connecticut, 

Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, and Vermont). 

Using data” for recent years from all available 

sources, annual totals of children involved could 

be estimated and mean numbers computed for all 

29 States (tables 9 and 10). For 24 of these States, 

information is available for each year from 1952 

through 1965. 

Variation Among States 

Data in tables 9 and 10 show the variation 

among States in the number of children involved 

and in the mean number of children per decree. 

These statistics also show changes that occurred 

in each State during the years for which data are 

available. 

In 1965, the number of children involved was 

34,500 in Ohio and 1,000 in Vermont, a ratio of 

approximately 35 to 1, Similar differences are 

found for earlier years, reflecting differences 

between States in population and in divorce rates. 

When these two variables are held constant, the 

variation is still pronounced—the range of the 

mean number of children per divorce in 1965 

was between 1.13 in Florida and Mississippi and 

1.73 tn Vermont. This means that two divorced 

couples in Vermont had approximately as many 

children as three “inMississippi or Florida (table 

lo). 

Of the 29 States for which 1965 data are 

available 15 had 1.35 or fewer children per decree, and 14 had more than 1.35 children (fig. 5). 

A variation can be observed in the regional distribution of the means—almost all reporting 

Northeastern States had high means, while all 

reporting Southern States had low means. In the 

other two regions the means were widely distributed throughout the range. 

The numbers of children involved in divorce 

increased from 1952 to 1965 in all States for 

which this information was obtained, except for 

Hawaii, where the 1965 total declined drastically 

due to amendments of the divorce laws. The numbers more than doubled in Alaska, Florida, 

Georgia, and Michigan (table 9). 

The mean number of children per divorce 

also increased in all States for which information 

is available, except for Hawaii, from 1952 to 

1965. In 18 of the 24 States this increase was 

between 30 and 60 percent. The largest increase 

was 77 percent in Alaska and the smallest, 30 

percent in Connecticut. Some of the States that 

experienced the largest increases in the mean 

number of children still had comparatively low 

means in 1965 (Florida, Georgia, and Missouri) 

(table 10). 

Increases can also be observed by comparing 

State data for two consecutive years. Tables 9 

and 10 each yield 339 such comparisons for the 

years 1952-65. Increases of total numbers were 

found in 215 cases and of mean numbers in 225 

cases. The number of declines was 68 and 96, 

respectively. When 3-year moving averages of 

the means were computed, eliminating the minor 

annual fluctuations, increases were found in 249 

out of a total of 281 such comparisons, or almost 

90 percent of the cases. 

Thus it can be seen that the increase of the 

number of children per decree was not only a 

national occurrence, but was also reflected in all 

States for which information is available. It is 

very likely that similar increases occurred in 

all, or almost all, other States,. The decline of 

many State means in 1965 parallels a similar 

decline on the national level. ,, 

.6 
VERMONT


UTAH


SOUTH DAKOTA


NEW HAMPSHIRE


WISCONSIN


MAINE


CONNECTICUT


KANSAS


NEBRASKA


RHODE ISLAND


IOWA


MONTANA


ALASKA


HAWAII


OHlO


MICHIGAN


OREGON


IDAHO


WYOMING


MARYLAND


PENNsYLVANiA


VIRGINIA


TENNESSEE


ALABAMA


NORTH OAKOTA


klLSSOURl


5EORGIA


‘LORIDA


MISSISSIPPI


o	 .50 1.00 1.50 2.00 

1 

, 

1 I I I I I I I I I I I I I 1 

) .50 1.00 1.20 1.40 1.60 1.s0 2.00 I MEAN NUMBER I 

Figure 5. Mean number of children per decree: 29 reporting States, 1965. 

, 

7 
.

.

AVAILABLE INFORMATION ABOUT declines with age less rapidly than that of couples 

PARENTS OF THE CHILDREN with children, particularly after the childless 

INVOLVED	 couples realize that the chances of having children have become remote. Statistical data concerning this problem, however, “are not available. 

Information about children of divorced cou- In practically ali age gr,oups, percentages of 

ples refers only to their total numbers. Their divorced husbands and wives reporting no children 

characteristics are unknown, except that they we%e higher than those reporting any given num­ are within the age group provided by State laws, ber of children.’ Among husbands and wives with as a rule under 18 years of age, and, in a few children, those who reported one child were most 

States, their race can be ascertained. numerous, except for husbands and wives in their 

On the other hand, demographic characteris- thirties, where the percentage with two children 

tics of the parents are reported in States partici- was slightly higher. 

pating in the divorce-registration area. However, The distribution of parents by number of 

in 1963, reporting of personal characteristics children changes with age (table 11). Percentages was sufficiently complete in only six States, and, for persons reporting one child were highest in 

in one of these, the number of children was not the age groups under 25, while parents reporting well reported. Therefore,, in only five States— five or more children were most numerous at Hawaii, Iowa, Missouri, Tennessee, and Wisconsin— was satisfactory information available about ages 30-39 years. After the, peak ages, percentages of all groups reporting children declined 

children classified by characteristics of parents consistently. Couples that report no children are and this information was tabulated for 1963. In on the average older than those reporting chilthese five States 33,615 divorces and annulments dren (table 12). Median ages of husbands and were granted that year involving a total of 44,500 

children. It must be noted that the ratio of chil- wives were highest where no children were redren per divorce was 1.32 in the five States com- ported, and lowest when one ‘child was reported. 

bined, practically the same as the ratio of 1,31 

for the DRA. 

The following sections present data on children by personal characteristics and the duration 

of marriages of their parents. The personal char- ‘“”F

1- J 

A 

.s “‘.,

acteristics include age at marriage and at decree, ‘%,,, 

.: �.,

number of times married, and resident status. I .5 ... +. 

z ... ... w -., m ..” %. 0

CHILDREN BY AGE OF PARENTS	 -! .+’ +.. 

z ... 

0 [/ ..” %$+ Age of fdher 

AT DECREE	 ~ I .0 L /.:- t

:

~$ a .+..-

U! .2

Distribution of children by Age of Parents Age of mother . ~ 

The proportion of divorced couples with	 z 

a 

children under 18 years of age is highest when g

z 

0.5 E \’\

-.

-z

\

tz

1 

.

~ 

wives and husbands are in their late twenties or	 1-

b- early thirties, respectively, and then declines	 L 

I 

with age (table 11). Husbands and wives 50 years otL!l!l!!!l!li![!!l!.l#l of age and older at time of decree report no Uddr 2&	 30- 35- 40- 45- 5oi34 39 44 49 children under 18 about twice as often as those


under 25 years of age, because many children of I AGE IN YEARS I


older persons are grown-up and are not reported


in divorce cases. Furthermore, it is possible Figure 6. Mean number of children per ‘decree, by age


that the likelihood of divorce of childless couples of parents: total of f ive selected States, 1963.


8 
Number of Children by Age of Parents 

Both the total number of children and the 

mean numbers per decree vary with the age of 

the parents at decree. The largest percentages of 

children were reported when the father and mother 

were 25-34 years of age, the number of children 

of this age group comprising over 40 percent of 

all children involved (table 13). The mean number 

of children per decree increased while the parents were in their twenties, reached a maximum 

while they were in their thirties, and declined 

afterward (table 14 and fig. 6). 

The mean number of children per decree 

with children was 2.2 in the five States combined, 

compared with a mean of 1.3 when all decrees 

were used. The difference between the two comparable means increased with the age of both 

parents, due to. the growing proportions of divorces with no children reported included in the 

denominators of means per all decrees. The age 

pattern of the mean per decree with children was 

similar to that of means based on all decrees. 

When the parents were under age 25 at the time 

of decree, the means per decree with children 

were 1.5 for fathers and 1.6 for mothers. They 

increased to 2.7 when parents were 35-39 years 

old, and declined with the increasing age of the 

divorced parents to 2.2 and 1.6, respectively, 

when they were 50 years or older. The decline 

was due to those families with several children 

where the older ones may have reached the age 

when they are no longer included in the data, 

while the younger children were included. ‘Ems, 

the numbers of children reported were smaller 

than those which would have been reported by the 

same couples if they had divorced at a younger 

age. 

CHILDREN BY AGE OF PARENTS 

AT MARRIAGE 

Persons who married at early ages were 

likely to have more children at the time of their 

divorce than persons married at an older age, 

and the age of the mother was more closely associated with the number of children than was 

the father’s age. In the five States combined, 40.6 

percent of all women divorced in 1963 reported 

no children, but this percentage was only 25.6 

percent for women married in their teens (table 

15). Among alI divorced women, 19.6 percent had 

three or more children, but this percentage was 

reduced to 14.2 for women married when 25-29 

years old, and 5.7 percent for women married in 

their thirties. Ia all cases the percentages without children increased consistently with increasing age at marriage. This association could be 

expected because of the high fertility of younger 

women.4 In the five States combined, the mean 

number of children per decree declined from 1.7 

when the mother was less than 20 years old at 

the time of marriage to 0.1 when she was 40 

years or over. For the fathers, comparable means 

were 1.6 and 0.3. The pattern was similar in all 

five States included in the study (table 16). 

CHILDREN BY MARRIAGE ORDER 

OF PARENTS 

The relationship between marriage order and 

the number of children reported can be described 

as follows. The more times the father and mother 

have been married; the smaller the average number of children per decree and the larger the 

proportion of couples reporting no children. The 

number of this marriage of the mother shows a 

stronger association with the number of children 

than that of the father (table 17). The mean numbers of children for couples with both spouses 

married once were almost three times as large 

as those where both parents wer~ remarried. The 

means for couples where the woman was married 

once and the man more than once were considerably larger than those for first married husbands 

agd remarried wives (fig. 7). 

The differences among the marriage order 

categories are due almost exclusively to the 

proportions of couples reporting no children under 

18 years. The mean number of children per decree 

with children shows little variation by marriage 

order: from 2.2 for first marriages of both parents to 1.9 for remarriages of both. In all five 

States the proportion of couples reporting no children was lowest when both spouses were married 

once and highest when both were remarried. ,. 

9 
2,0 

E 1.6 

I .4 

u. 

o 

~ 1.0 

0.6 

0 I 

First marriage first morrioge Remarriage Remorrioge 

of both of mother, of mother, of both 

remarriage of first morrioge 

father of fother 

Figure 7. Mean number of children by marri age order


of husband and wife: total of f ive selected States,


1963.


CHILDREN BY AGE, COLOR, AND 

MARRIAGE ORDER OF PARENTS 

Age at Decree


The number of children is associated with 

the combined personal characteristics of parents. 

Table 18 gives the mean number of children per 

decree by marriage order, color, and age at decree of father and mother. The pattern of the 

mean numbers of chiJdren by age of parents at 

decree is different for the two marriage-order 

categories, but rather similar for racial groups 

within each marriage- order category. 

When fathers, or mothers, were married 

once, the means were highest for the 25-34-year 

age groups, and this was true within each racial 

group. The lowest means for all white children 

and for nonwhite children in Hawaii were obtained 

when the parents, were under 25 years at the 

time of decree, but for nonwhite children in the 

continental States the means were lowest for the 

oldest age group of parents, those 35 years and 

older. 

When fathers and mothers were married 

more than once, two different age patterns could 

be observed within” each racial group--for all 

white mothers and nonwhite mothers living in the 

four continental States, the mean numbers of children declined with age, but for white and nonwhite 

fathers, the highest means were found for the 35-

44-year age group. 

Within each age group, the mean numbers 

of childern were usually highest for nonwhite 

couples in Hawaii, the second highest means 

usually occurred for white couples and the lowest 

for nonwhite couples living in the four continental 

States. Differences between the races cannot be 

attributed to duration of marriage, because a 

similar pattern is also found when data are classified by duration of marriage, instead of age, as 

discussed later in this report. 

When the two, nonwhite groups, the Negroes 

in the four continental States and the other nonwhite couples in Hawaii, are combined their agespecifis mean numbers of children are very 

similar to those for white couples. . 

Age at tAarriage


The number of children of mothers married 

once is larger than that of remarried mothers 

even if they were of the same age at the time of the 

current marriage (table 19). ~Within each marriage-order “category, the average number of 

children usually declined with the increasing ageof parents at marriage. The mean numbers of 

children by age at marriage and marriage orde’r 

were higliest for the nonwhite couples in Hawaii, 

and lowest for nonwhite couples in the continental 

States, with means for the white couples fallingin between. Thus the pattern of race-specific 

means was’ the same as when age at decree w I r, 

used. ~ 

,CHILDREN BY RESIDENT STATUS 

OF THE DEFENDANT PARENT 

The plaintiffs in divorce cases are always 

considered to be residents in the State where the 

case is tried and therefore the tabulation of the 

i-luil~
 ber of children by the resident status of 

parents is limited to the defendant parent. 

10 
In three out of four divorces the wife was 

the plaintiff and the husband was the defendant, 

and in such cases the number of children per decree was higher than when the wife was the defendant. This was true almost without exception “for 

comparable pairs of means in each of the five 

reporting States (table 20). 

As a rule, the average number of children per 

divorce was larger in cases where the defendant 

: lived, in the State where the decree was granted 

than when he lived out of State. When the defendant lived in the State where the divorce was obtained, both parties to divorce were living in the 

same State,. and, very probably, the couple lived 

in the same State before the separation. Migration to a different State may have been easier if 

no children, or only a few, were involved. There 

was also more opportunity to migrate when many 

years had elapsed between separation and decree, 

and during this interval some of the children may 

have grown up and were excluded from the statistics. The proportion of couples reporting no 

children follows the same pattern. No children 

are reported more often in divorce cases where 

the wife is the defendant, irrespective of her resident status. 

CHILDREN BY DURATION ~ 

OF ‘MARRIAGE 

National, Regional, and State Data 

Divorce data classified by the duration of 

marriage and the number of children reported 

are available for the years 1960 through 1965? 

State data were published for each year, and 

national “and regional data for 1960. From these 

data mediap numbers of children by duration of 

marriage were computed (tables 21 and 22). 

Medians, rather than means, are used because 

of th> open-ended category “three children or 

more. ” 

For the United States, the overall median 

number of children per decree was 1.3 in 1960.’: 

This median was only 0.6 when the marriage had 

lasted less than 1 year, and it increased with 

added years of duration,, reaching the highest 

value, 2.3, for the duration interval of 10-14 years. 

Couples with a still longer duration reported 

fewer” children (1.7), because their children were 

growing up and leaving the group included in the 

statistics. 

The pattern of medians in individual regions 

and States was similar to that found for the 

country as a whole. In all cases, the median was 

lowest when the marriage had lasted less than 1 

year and increased with growing duration. In 

most areas the highest median was found for 

marriages that lasted 10-14 years and declined 

when the duration was 15 years or more. The decline” of the median for the highest open-ended 

interval of duration of marriage has a parallel 

in the decline of the mean for the highest age 

interval, since both were due to divorces of 

couples whose children were grown. 

Distribution of Divorces by Number 

of Children and Durat-ion 

In the United States no children were reported 

by almost 90 percent of couples marzied for less 

than 1 year. This declined with increasing duration to 26 percent when the marriage had lasted 

10-14 years, and went up again in the category 

80 

r 

DURATION OF MARRIAGE IN YEARS 

Figure 8. Percent of divorces reporting children, by 

duration of marriage: Un ited States, 1960 

“11

with the longest tabulated duration (table 23). In 

all duration categories couples with ho children 

represented a higher proportion of the total than 

couples with any given number of children. The 

second highest proportion varied depending on 

duration, 

Even in cases where the duration. of marriage was less than lyear,12.lpercent of couples 

reported children and 3.3 percent had three or 

more children (fig. 8 and table 23). Manyof these 

children were, no doubt, children of one of the 

spouses born from previous marriages. On the 

other hand, even in the duration category with 

the lowest proportion of childless couples, one 

out of four couples reported no children. The 

median duration of marriage was 4.8 years for 

couples reporting no children. When the couple 

reported one, two, or three ’or more children, 

the median duration increased to 5.9, 9.3, and 

12.7 years, respectively (table 24). 

Children by Duration, Marriage Order, 

and Color 

The 1963 statistics on children by duration 

of marriage were further classified by marriage 

order and color. Data for nonwhite couples are 

shown separately for the four continental States, 

where almost all divorced nonwhite couples were 

Negro, and separately for Hawaii, where almost 

all divorced nonwhite couples belonged tovarious 

races other than Negro. 

When divorces were classified by marriage 

order and color, the average number of children 

increased in each category with increasing dura-’ 

tion of marriage. It reached a maximum when 

this duration was 10-14 years in all groups 

except remarried nonwhite couples, and declined 

in the open-ended category with the longest duration (table 25). Similarly the percentage of divorces with no children reported declined with 

the increasing duration, to a minimum in the 

10-14 years category, and increased afterwards 

(table 26). 

Mean numbers of children per decree for 

couples where both spouses were married once, 

are, as a rule, higher than those for the same 

duration of marriage of couples where one or 

both spouses had been married more than once. 

Some exceptions occurred only in marriages 

with a duration of less than 1 year. This may 

seem surprising, since many persons married 

more than once, particularly women, have children from previous marriages living with them, 

and it could be expected that the proportion of 

remarried wives without children would be 

smaller than that of wives married once. 

As a rule, the mean number of children for 

each marriage duration category is lowest for the 

nonwhite group in the four continental States, 

higher for white couples; and highest for nonwhite 

couples in Hawaii. 

In general, data on children by marriage 

order, color, and duration of marriage are 

similar to data by marriage order, color, and 

age of parents at decree (table 18). The pattern 

of race-specific means within duration categories 

is identical with that within age categories. 

12

.——- REFERENCES 

lU.S. Bureau of the Census: Population estimates. CUP 

ren$ Population R ep~>ts Series P-25, ‘No.” 354. Washington. 

U.S. Government Printing Office. 

2National Genter for Health Statistics: Divorce Statistics 

analysis, United States, 1962. Vita2 and ,Hea2th Statistics. ,.


PI-IS Pub, No. 1600-Secies 21-No. 7, Pubiic Health Servic~


Washington. U.S. Government Printing Office, Dec. 1965.


Table 4. , . . ..
 . .. 

3National Center for, IIealth Statisti&: Divorce statistics, 

analysis, United States, 1963. Vital and H etz?th Statistics. ., 

PI-IS Pub. No.” 1000%eries 21-No”. 13, Public Health Service. ~. . 

Washington. U.S. Government Printing Office, Oct. 1957. ,, . . Ta!.Je X. ., ‘ ,. 

4U.S. Bureau of the Census: U.S. Census of the Population: ,. 1960,, Subject Eepo+Familie’s. Wa.5hington. U.S. Government’: “ 

Printing Office, 1963. Table 50. 

5VitaZ Statistics of the United States, Vol. 11~ 1960,’ table 

4-9; 1961, table 4-9; 1962, table 2-18; 1963, table 2-19; 1964, 

table 2-19; and 1965, table 2-19. 

6Wright, C. D.: A Report on Marriage and Divorce in 

the United States, 1867 to 1886. Washington. Government 

Printing Office, 1889, and U.S. Bureau of the Census: Martiage @d ,!2iwome, 1867-1906, Part II. Washington, D.C. 1908. 

7

U..S. Bureau of the Census: ,ifan+zge and Drkbrcej annual 

pu~lication, 1922 through 1932. 

8vitaz Statistics of the United States, Volume I for the ‘‘ 

years 1951 through 1959, Volume II for 1950,, and Volume III 

for 1960 thr&gh 1963. ., 

9PIateris, A.: Nonrandomnees of nonreporting of the 

number of children on di~orce records, NC’HS Technics? Informciion Notes, No. 36. May 19, 1967. 

10U.S. Bureau of the Census: l-1.s. Censue of the Popw. . . 

?ation. 1960, Vol. I, Characteristics of the Population. Part I, 

United States Summary. Washington. U.S. Go(emment Printing 

Office, 1963. 

000 

13

-----------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------

DETAILED TABLES 

Table 1.


2.


3.


4.


5.


6.


7.


8.


9.


10. 

11. 

12.


13.


14.


15.


16.


17.


18.


Estimated number of children involved in divorces and annulments: United States,


1922-32 and 1950-65---.---------------------------------------------------------


Percent of divorces and annulments, with.children reported: total reporting


States, 1922-32 and 1950-65


Number and percent distribution of divorces and annulments,by number,of children


reported: total of 16 selected States,1961-65--------.--------------------------


Number of children involved in divorces and annulments: United States and each


geographic region, 1960--------........------------.-----------------.-........-


Divorce rates, by number of children reported: United States and each geographic


region, 1,960


Number and percent distribution of divorces and annulment% by number of children


reported: United States, and each geographic region, 1960-----------------------


Number of children involved in divorces and annulments and mean number of chil­


dren per decree, by race: six selected States, 1963---------------”---


Number of divorces and annulments, by race and percent distribution”by number of


children reported: total of six selected States, 1963-.-------------------------


Estimated number of children involved in divorces and annulments: 29 reporting


States, l95O-65-----------------------------------------------------------------


Mean number of children per decree: 29 reporting States, 1950-65----------------


Number of divorces and annulments, by age of husband and wife at decree and per-


cent distributio~by number of children reported: total of five selected States


l963---------------------------------------------------------------------------L


Median age of husband and wife at decree, by number of children reported: ”five


selected States, l963-----------------------------------------------------------


Percent distribution of children involved in divorces and annulments, byage of


parents at decree: five selected States, 1963-----------------------------------


Mean number of ‘children by age of parents at decree: five selected States, 1963-


Number of divorces and annulments, by age at marriage of husband and wife and


percent distribution, by number of children reported: total of five selected


States, l963--------------------------------------------------------------------


Mean number of children per decree, by age of parents at marriage: five selected


States, l963--------------------------------------------------------------------


Mean number of children per decree and percent of decrees with no children re.


ported, by marriage order of husband and wife: five selected States, 1963-------


Mean number of children per decree, by marriage order, age at decree, and color


of parents: total of fitieselected States, 1963---------------------------------


Page


16


16


17


17


18


18


19


19


20 

22 

24


24


25


26


26


27


27


28

------

-------------------------

----------------

--------

DETAILED TABLES-Con. .


Table 19.	 Mean number of children per decree, by marriage order, age at marriage,and color 

of parents: total of five selected States, 1963---------------------------

20.	 Nean number of children per decree “and percent of decrees with no children re-


ported, by resident status of the defendant: five selected States, 1963---------


21.	 Median number of children per decree, by duration .ofmarriage: United States and


each geographic region, 1960---------------------------


22.	 Median number of children per decree, by duration of marriage: divorce-registra­


tion area and each registration State, 1963-------------------------------------


23.	 Number of decrees by duration of marriage and percent distribution, by number


of children reported: United States, 1960---.---- --------.------


24.	 Number of decrees by number.of children reported and percent distribution, by


duration of marriage: United States, 1960---------------------------------------


25.	 Mean number of children per decree, by marriage order, duration of marriage, and


color of parents: total of five selected States, 1963--------------------


26.	 Percent of divorces and annulments with no children reported, by marriage order,


duration of marriage, and color of couple: total of five selected States, 1963--


;, 

Page


29


30


30


31


32


32


33


34


15 
--------------------- ----------------------

------------------------------------------

Table 1. Estimated number of children involved in divorces and annulments: United States,


1922-32 and 1950-65


[Refers toevents occumkgwithin theUnited States. Formethod Ofestimating,
 seea,ppendi~


Estimated


Year All number of Mean per 

Rate per


decrees decree 1,000


children children


479,000 630;000 1.32 8.9
 L%-----------------------------------------­ 450,000 613,000 1.36 8.7


19631 428,000 562,000 1.31 8.2 

19621------------------------------------------ 413,0CJ0 532,000 1.29 7.9 

19611------------------------------------------ 414,000 516,000 1.25 7.8 

1960------------------------------------------- 393,000 463,000 1.18 7.2 

1959------------------------------------------- 395,000 468,000 1.18 7.5 

1958------------------------------------------- 368”,000 398,000 1.08 

1957------------------------------------------- 381,000 379,000 0.99 2:: 

1956------------------------------------------- 382,000 361,000 0.95 6.3 

1955------------------------------------------- 377,000 347,000 0.92 6.3 

1954------------------------------------------- 379,000 341,000 0.90 6.4 

1953------------------------------------------- 390,000 33(I,000 0.85 6.4 

1952------------------------------------------- 392.000 318,000 0.81 

1951------------------------------------------- 381;000 304,000 0.80 ::? 

1950------------------------------------------- 385,144 299,000 0.78 6.3 

1932------------------------------------------- 164,241 116,000 0.71 

1931------------------------------------------- 188,003 122,000 0,67 ;:; 

1930------------------------------------------- 195,961 131,000 0.67 3.0 

1929------------------------------------------- 205,876 137,000 0.67 3.2 

1928------------------------------------------- 200,176 132,000 0.66 3.1 

1927------------------------------------------- 196,292 127,000 0.65 

1926------------------------------------------- 184,678 120,000 0.65 ;:; 1925------------------------------------------- 175>449 114,000 0.65 2.7 

1924------------------------------------------- 170,952 111,000 0.65 2.7 

1923------------------------------------------- 165.096 106,000 0.64 2.6 

1922------------------------------------------- 148;815 93,000 0.63 2:3 

lRevised.


Table 2. Percent of divorces and annulments, with children reported: total reporting States,


1922-32 and 1950-65


[Refers to events occurring within the mporti”g States] 

Mean


Percent number of
 Number of of decrees children


Year reporting with per decree
 States children with


children


1965-------- 22 59.8 2.16


1964-------- 22 62.6 2.18


1963-------- 22 61:6 2.16


1962-------- 21 60.2 2.14


1961-------- 60.3 2.06


1960-------- u.:! 56.7 2.08


1959-------- 16 59.1 2.00


1958-------- 55.1 1.96


1957-------- ;: 50.9 1.95


1956-------- 48.9 1.93


1955-------- ;; 48.1 1.92


1954-------- 22 47.8 1.88


1953-------- 22 45.5 1.86


1952-------- 22 44.6 1.82


Mean


Percent number of
 Number of of decrees children
 Year reporting with per decree


States children with


1951--------


1950--------


1932--------


1931--------


1930--------


1929--------


19~8--------


1927--------


~’+z6-
“------


1925--------


1924--------


1923--------


1922--------


children
 1 

17 43.9 1.81


16 44.0 1.76


1.74


1,76


1.78


1.79


1.78


1.77


1.80


1.80


U.S. 35.7 1.82


Us. 35.0 1.84


Us. 34.0 1.84


16

-------------------------------------

---------------------------------

------------------------------------------

Table 3. Number and percent distribution of divorces and annulments, by number of,children re-


ported: total of 16 selected States,l 1961-65


[Bypla.e ofocc.rrence. Basedonprobability
 sample]


Number of children


All
 Year decrees
 Not
 None 1 2 3 4 5 6-!- .stated


Number of divorces 

1965---------- 114,192 45,275 25,394 20,192 11,432 5,968 2,384 1,741 1,806 

1964---------- 111,586 41,804 24,559 19,576 11,796 5,749 2,520 1,786 3,796 

1963---------- 104,867 41,142 23,169 18,832 10,830 5>213 2,038 

1962---------- 102,156 41,223 21,987 18,133 10,277 4,924 3>525 2,087 

1961---------- 99,037 39,803 23,373 16,825 9,251 4,665 3,064 2,056 

Percent distribution 

1965---------- 100.0” 40.3 22.6 18.0 10.2 5.3 2.1 1.5 ... 

1964---------- 100.0 38.8 22.8 18.2 10.9 5.3 2.3 1.7 .,. 

1963---------- 100.0 40.0 22.5 18.3 10.5 5.1 2.1 1.5 ... 

1962---------- 100.0 41.2 22.0 18.1 10.3 4.9 T5 ... 

1961---------- 100.0 24.1 17.3 4.8 3.2 ... 

lAlaska, ~awaij-, 

L

Idaho, Io~a: 

41.0 

Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, 

9.5 

Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oregon, 

South Dakota, Tennesaee, Virgin~a, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.


Table 4. Number of children involved in divorces and annulments: United States and each geo­


graphic region, 1960


[Byplace ofoccurcence. Basedonprobability
 samplq


Mean number


Percent of children


Estimated Rate of


number per decrees
 Area of 1,000 reporting Per


children children no Per decree


children decree with


children


United States--------------------------- 463,000 7.2 43.3 1.18 2.08 

Northeast 54,600 3.7 31.2 1.40 2.03 

North Central 129,600 7.0 43.3 1.22 2.16 

South----------------------------------------- 170,000 8.2 45.6 1.11 2.04 

West 108,700 10.7 44.2 1.14 2.04 

17

----------------------------------------

----------------------------------

--------------------------------------

-----------

---------------------

-------------------- ----

---------------------

---------------------

-----------------

--------------------------

Table 5. Divorce rates,by number of children reported: United States and each geographic region,


1960


[Byplmxofoccurrence. Based on probability sample. Cases with tbe number of children not stated are distributed. For the regions, rates for 2, 

3, and 4children ormorecould not recomputed because population bases are not available. Forcomputation methods, see appendix] 

Region


United
 Number of children States North- North
 South West
 east Central


Divorce rate


All divorces 11.5 4.6 10.9 14.5 17.’6


Decrees with no children 18.7 5.3 18.3 24.0 29.0 

Decrees with children------------------------------------- 8.9 4.3 10.9 13.4 

1 child------------------------------------------------- 11.4 5.6 1::; 13.9 17.3 

2 children---------------------------------------------- 8.6 

3 children---------------------------------------------- 3.7 7.3 9.4 11.7 

4 children or more ;:: } 

Table 6. Number and percent distribution of divorces and annulments, by number of children re-


ported: United States and each geographic region, 1960


[Byplace ofoc.wrerice. Basedimprobability
 sample]


— 

Area


United States


Northeast


North Central-----------------


South


West i----


United State5-----------

Northeast


North Central


South-------------------------


West


,


Number of children 

All


decrees
 Not None 1 2 3 4 5+ stated 

Number of divorces


159,165 84,711 63,927 35,586 14,674 9,523 , a~


Percent distribution


100.0 31.2 30.2 

100.0 43.3 21.9 

100.0 45.6 22.8 

100.0 44.2 ~~.~ 

I 

4.0[ 2.61 . . . 

I 

4.3 3.3 . . . 

4.9 2.8 . . . 

3.7 2.6 . . . 

3.3 2.1 . . . 

18

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------------------------------------

------------------------------------

----------------------------

-------------------------------------- -----------------------------------

------------------------------------

------------------------------------ ------------------------------

--------------------------

------------------------------------

---------------------------------

--------------------------------

-------

Table 7. Number of children involved in ,divorces and annulments and mean number of children per


decree, by race; six selected States, 1963


[By place ofoccurrence. Basedontotal count inVirginia andprobability sample inremaining
 5States] 

Selected States


Race 

Total Hawaii Iowa Mo . Term. Va. Wis.


Number of children


All races----------------------------- 54,209 2,7641 7,748 14,392 7,652


White 46,483 693 7,:;; 12,745 10>297 8,118 7,,216 

Nonwhite 7,022 1,997 1,357 1,366 1,688 371 

Negro 4,930 214 1,357 1,366 I11,688 298 

TOther 1,360 1,32; - 38 

Interracia12----------------------------- 748 668 . 51 

Not stated--------------------------------- 704 74 ;? 290 184 - 65 

Mean number of children per decree 

“AU races 1.19 1.16 1.21 1.58 

White 1.31 1.41 1.55 1.21 1.18 1;24 1.61 

Nonwhite 1.22 2.04 1.41 1.09 1.00 1.08 1.26 

Negro 1.09 1.17 1.49 1.09 1.00 11.08 1.24 

Other 2.08 2.08 2.71 

Interracial 1.79 1.98 1.2: 1.28 -1 - II 1 I 1 I 

lChildren of five other nonwhite couples counted as Negro.


20ne parent white, the other nonwhite.


Table 8. Number of divorces and annulments,by race and percent distribution by number of children


reported: total of six selected States! 1963


[BYplace
of cxcurr~nce.Based ontObI count,in virgi~a andprobability sample in remainiig 5 states] 

Number of children


Race All 

decrees 

Total None ‘1 2 3 4 5 6-!­

!Wmber Percent distribution


All races 100.0 40.6 23.2 

White 3;,5--; 100.0 39.5 23.8


Nonwhite 100.0 47.5 19.7


Negro-- 34;549 100.0 52.7 19.3


Other---.-.S-------------------- 3655 100.0 24.5 19.3


Interracia14--------------------------- 4417 .100.0 26.7 24.5 

241,716 

lHawaii, Iowa, Missouri, Tenness,ee,”””Virginia,
 and 

T

Wiscons5n.


21ncludes 583 cases with ,xac~not stated.


3Fi~e divorces Of othdr nonwhite parents included with Negroes.


40ne parent white, the other nonwhite.


Source: Data for Virginia from the Statistical Annual Report of the 

1963, table 35; data for other States tabulated by NC%.
 -.


17.2 10.3 1.7


=


17.7


14.0 ;:!


12.5


20’.3 5:3


19.6 2.9


—


State Department of Health,


19

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---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

Table 9. Estimated number of children involved in divorces and annulments: 29 reporting States, 1950-65


[Byplace ofocc.rren.e. Estimating methdsandsources
ofdamaregive,intheappendixj


Year decree granted


State


1950 1951 1952 1953 1954


Estimated number of children


Alabama 6,600 6,900 6,900 

Alasti 400 400 400 Connecticut 63>;66 63>;6; 3,300 3,600 63,600 

Florida 10,500 12,000 13,600 13,900 14 300 

Georgia -.. 6,800 ‘5,600 ‘6:300 

Hawaii 

Idaho 3

~2,600 ~2,400 

1,900 

2,400 

2,200 

2,400 

2,200 

2,500 

Iowa 

Kansas 4,900 4,900 4;:::: ~5,500 

5,400 

5,70C 

5,200 

Maine 2,500 2,500 2,300 

Maryland . ..- .-. -.. 

Michigan 

Mississippi -------------------------------------------- 13,700

14,300 

%2,100 

~ :4,100 

%1,300 

~4,400 

10&12,600 

24,200 

%5, 000 

24,300 

Missouri 28 200 ‘ 8,400 9,100 9,000 ‘8,800 Montana 21;800 1,900 1,900 2,000 2,000 

Nebraska 

New Hmpshire 

,2,400 

“1,,200 6“?;;:: 

42,400 

61;300 8;$: 6::$~~ 

North Dakota b70(3 8700 87OO 87(J3 8$300 

Ohio 

OregOn 

-.. 

34,800 5,000 

18,600 

5,300 

20>800 

5,400 

20,200 

45,600 

Pennsylvania -


Hhode Island -


South DakOta %,100 1,100 41,100 1,100 1,30C
 Tennessee 66,400 6,600 6,900 7,100 7,60C
 Utah -..


ve~ont 4700 4700 4600 3700
 Virginia 14,600 4,700 6’,200 16,800 ,16,~oC


Wisconsin


Wyoming 41,;6; % ,100 % ,200 ‘1,200 al,20c


Definition of children by year and State., Includes children under 18 years of age, with the following


exceptions:


lMinor children affected by decree.


2Minor children.


3Children affected by decree.


4Number of children.


5Chi~dren under 18 Of this ~rriage -


6Children under 21.


7Children under 21 affected by decree.


8A11 dependent children under 21.


‘Dependent children under 19.


10Children under 17.


20

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Table 9. Estimated number of children involved in divorces and annulmanta: 29 reporting Statea, 1950-65—COn.


[Bypla.e ofoc..rrence.
 Estimating methods ands~urces ofdahare given intheappendi~ 

Year decree granted


. .


1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965


Estimated number of children


8,100 %,100 alo 200 12,900 17,600 121,300 122,800 115,300 16,400 15,100 13,000 

‘63,400 

14,600 

‘3,000 

15,900 

63,100 

15,500 

6b3,000 

1b15,600 

6b36;:: 

1b18;300 63%: 

1b78,800 

6b3’ 800 lbzz:soo 

6b4,200 

1b23,400 

6b4,7oo 

lb24,goo 

6b5,500 

1b25,700 

6b5,600 

1b28,600 

‘6,900 a7,500 *8,600 8,200 9,100 9.,100 11,000 11,700 13,000 13,500 13,900 

2,300 

2,400 

2,400 

2,300 

2,300 

23700 

122,300 

2,700 

2,500 

3,100 

22,400 

33,200 

22,900 

33,200 

22,500 

33,400” 

22,800 

33,500 

123,100 

33,600 

121,500 

33,700” 

5,600 5,500 6,100 6,800 7,800 7,800 

64OO 6500 ‘6500 6700 71 100 71,100 71,20(J 71,200 71,600 

2,300 2,300 2,400 b2,400 b2,700 b2,800 b2,goo b3>100 b3,500 b3,700 b3,900 

1015 900 24~300 %4,500 24 7(3(3 14,700

24,600 

4%4,900 4b17,400 2114,7(30 2b4,goo 

4b&;; 

2b5;600 

5>700 

19,700

!?b5,800 

6,800 

22,800 

2b6,200 

7>700 

22,600 

2b6,200 

8,600 

26,900 

2b6,400 

8,800 

26>900 

2b6,500 

‘9,200 6’9’200 ‘9,800 3b9,900 %, 200 3bll,800 412,400 414,600 14,400 14,900 l;,~:: 

J.,900 2:200 2,300 2,400 2,600 2,500 2,800 2>700 2,600 2,900 > 

5,400 45,400” 4$$:: 3::j:: b:;;~~ 46,500 4;:::: 47,500 47,900 48’,500 4;$:;


32,500 3d2,500 82,500 82,500 112 600 32,400 33 200” 33,200 33,600 33,700”


61,300 ‘31,300 1>300 %,300 %:400 lbl,600 lbl;6oo lb2,100 1:;’::: lb2,200 lb2,500


6700 6600 8700 3b800 3bl,100 3bl~100 3bl,3oo 3bl,200


22,000 

45,700 5,700 65,500” 6,100 117,(300 6,700 7,000 8,000 7,700 “ 9,400 8,200 

17,300 18,900 17,400 “19,900 2.2,200 23,500 20,500 ,--- 1,600 1,800 1,700 

‘1,;;; 

7,900 

1,’000 

8,200 900 

8,500 

800 

9,000 

1,000 

~9,900 5;;::: 51:;;:: 1,300 

511,000 

1,400 5,11,800 51”;:::: 1,700 

513,400 

2,000 2,600 3,100 2,900 3,600 4,000 4,400 4,800 4,900 

21,400 623,500 b23,500 b2;~~~ b.2;~~ bz:;g:: 29,600 31,600 34,300 34,500


4600 6700 2600 3b600 3b600 3b700 3b800 3b700 3b700 3bgoo %,ooo


26,200 26,300 26,600 66,600 67,600 17,600 18,900 19,100 19,600 1410,400 1:,;;;


6,500 4,800 6,000 6,000 7,700 8,100


1,100 al,loo 1,200 1,300 1,400 1,500 1,700 1,800 1,800 1,900 1:900


llDependent children.
 ..


“Children under 20 years of age.
 13Definition not available.


l~I;em+ch?~~;d from “number of minor children affected” to “number of children under 18 affected by decree”


on JuLY 1, J.YO+. 

‘Incomplete.


bBased on data from State publications.


‘Includes 7 decrees Of separate ~intenance.


dlncludes 16 decrees of separate maintenance.


Source: Based on data published in the Vital Statistics of the United States, 1950-65, and in vital sta­


tistics publications Of the States.


21

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Table 10. Mean number of children per decree: 29 reporting States, 1950-65


[Byplaoe of occurrence. Estimating, methods andsources ofdatiare @venintheappendi~ 

Year decree granted


State


1950 I 1951 I 1952 I 1953 I 1954


Mean number of children 

Alabama 0.74 0.74 0.77 

Alaska .-. 0.79 0.74 

Connecticut 61.16 % .20 1.15 1.26 6!: ;; 

Florida 60.58 0.64 0.67 0.69 0.73 

Georgia---------------------------------------------- 0.76 ‘:.;; aO.80 

Hawaii -.. 1.44 1.75 

Idaho---.-------------------------------------------- 30.96 0.94 0:92 0.99 

Iowa------------------------------------------------- 10.90 6;:;; 40.96 1.09 

Qnsas 0.94 %: ;2 0.98 

Maine ----------------------------------------........- 1.11 1.13 1:12 

Maryland ‘L-------

Michigan Io@o.79 10aO.76 10’0.76 10aO.


Mississippi 1::;; 20.75 20.82 20.81 20.85


Missouri 20.68 ‘Co.70 0.71 0.73 a0.76


Montana 20.92 1.01 0.99 1.03


Nebraska 4:??30.93


New Hampshire 2:: ;: $;: 61.13 81.21 67:;;


North Dakota 81.17 . %.15 81.15 81.37


Ohio 0.85 0.89


Oregon 30.81 0.82 0;84 0.85 4;: ;;


Pennsylvania-----------------------------------------


Rhode Island


South Dakota 41.16 1.24 :.;; 1.23 1.37


Tennessee 60.81 0.86 . 0.92 0.96 

Utah 

Vemont 41.17 $.07 %.20 31 33 

Virginia 10.77 0.78 0.79 ?0.85 10:84 

Wisconsin 

Wyoming 40.83 4a0.g2 4a0.96 aO.98 al.02 

Definition of children by year and State. Includes children under 18 years of age, with the


following exceptions:


lMinor children affected by decree.


2Minor children.


Zchildren affected by decree.


%umber of children.


Schildren under 18 of this marriage. 

6Children under 21.


7Children under 21 affected by decree, 

8A11 dependent children under 21.


‘Dependent children under 19.


IOChildren under 17.


22


92 
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--- --- --- ---

Table 10. Mean number of children per decree: 29 reporting States, 19X)-65-Con. 

[Byplace ofowamence. Estimating methods andsources ofdati~e #venin theappendix] 

Year decree granted


1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963
 E 

Mean number of children


6$;; 

20.87 

60.93 

ao.93 

60.96 6;:?; 6;:;; 

11.23 

71.14 

11.29 

71.20 

11.24 

h. 22 

+;; 7;: ;: 

61.24 1.14 61.16 %.21 6bl.28 6%.31 ‘3%.35 6%.38 wl:44 61J1.47 

~ 0.73 0.79 0.83 Iboogo Ibo.gs Ibo.gl %.05 lbl.06 %.lo lbl.09 

ao.91 

1.68 

a0.96 

1.82 

‘0.98 

“2.00 

1.03 

1!!1.94 

1.05 

1.80 2;: :; 2:::; 1.19 

% 71 

1.23 

21.85 12;:;; 

0.98 1.03 1.13 1.12 1.16 31.23 31.19 31.33 31.30 31.25 

1.11 

1.06 $::: .::;j $:;: 

bl.29 4;:;; hi::2 4::2? 4;::: $::: 

1.19 . . . $:;: bl.38 ‘1.42 bl.49 ;.;: 1.08 1.14 . 1:26 

100.90 

2’0.88 

100.90 

20.94 2;: ;; 

.4bl.08 

2b’o.94 

4bl. og 

2b0.96 

ib;: ;; 

2bl.07 2b+:~; 2b;:;; 2+::: 2b;:;; 

aO.81 6ao*83 ao.90 3bo.g2 3bo.g6 3h.05 41.07 41.21 1.20 1.17 

3:: :; 3d;:;; 8;:;; 8;:;; 11; :;; 3::;; 4::: 

1.40 

J::; 3;:;: a:::; 

61.22 

61.36 

61.24 

61.18 6:$: 

%.34 

3%.55 

a~.;; lbl.47 

3%.51 

lbl.45 

3!l.42 %.74 

lbl 44 ,3b1 :57 1% 46 

3$.:72 

f’:;; 1.00 61.04 bl.og IJ1:13 bl.z3 bl.27 1.27 1.33 1.37 

0.99 61.05 1.11 111.16 1.17 1.17 1.32 1.24 1.45


1.25 1.31 1.28 1.39 1.50 1.46


1.52 1.64


1.27 1.21 1.39 1.23 1.36 1.66


0.94 0.98 0.99 1.03 1.08 5;::: 5;:;; M +::: %.27


1.22 

41.17 1.29 %.23 3b;:;; 

a%;;; 34:;; 3;:;; 3b;:;; 3b;:~j 3b~:~~ 

7::;; 

61’1.50


lbl.13


121 :;; 

31.31


+;:,


1:23


2+:;:


1.16


3:::;


lbl 60


3bl:69


1.33


1.32


1.23


‘1.44


5;: ;: 

3;: ;; 

1.21


1.55


1.29


20.9(3 20.88 20.99 60.99 61.06 11,03 

..- ..- -.. 1.39 1.31 

1.01 al.00 1.07 1.12 1.11 1.15 

llDeP&dent children.


lzchild”renunder-20 years Of age. 

13Definition not available.


EItem chan”gedfrom !’n~ber of minor children affected”


by decree,” on July 1, 1964.


a. Incomplete.


b. Based on data from State publications.


c. Includes 7 decrees of separate maintenance.


d. Includes 16 decrees of separate maintenance.


.,.., 

11.17 11.19 “ll.18 %.21 

1.40 1.32 1.59 1.62


1.30 1.34 1.32 1.34


to “number of children under 18 affected


Source: Base”don data published”in the Vital Statistic: of the United States, 1950-65, and i-n 

vital statistics publications of the States. 

’23

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Table 11. Number of divorces and annulments, by age of husband and wife at decree and ~ercent


distribution, by number of children reported: total of five selected States,l 1963


[By place of occurrence. Based on probability sample] 

Number of children .reported


All
 Age at decree decrees


Total None 1 2 3 4 5+


Husband Number Percent distribution


All ages 33,615 100. c 40.6 22.8 17.0 10.4 5.2 4.0 ~ .= _ 

Under 25 years 53688 100. c 41.3 36.5 16.9 0.6 0.1 25-29 ~ears 6>270 100.C 29.7 28.7 22.6 1;:[ 5,4 1.4 

30-34 years 4,884 100.0 23.3 21.2 22.2 17.3 9.1 6.9 

35-39 years 4,433 100.0 29.5 18.4 19.1 15.8 

40-44 years 4,040 100.0 37.4 17.9 17.2 13.1 ::: ::: 45-49 years 2,707 100.0 54.5 17.5 12.7 6.3 3.7 5.3 

50+ years------------.------------------------ 4,730 100.0 75.2 11.9 6.4 2.4 1.5 2.5


Wife


All ages 33,615	 100.0 40.6 22.8 17.0 10.4 5.2 $.0 _ _ . 

Under 25 years 9,849 100.0 38.0 34.3 18.5 2.5 D.4 

25-29 years 5,719 100.0 22.6 23.7 22.1 1::: 5.3 

30-34 years 4,584 100.0 25.7 18.3 20.6 15.9 “$; 9.1 

35-39 years 4,024 100.0 31.7 17.4 18.6 15.4 3..0 

40-44 years 3,382 LOO.O :;.: 18.5 15.1 ;:: !.2 

45-49 years 2,293 100.0 15.0 12.0 ;:: 1.8 

5j3-?­years 2,845 100.0 87:1 9.2 1.8 0.6 ;:? 0.6


lHawaii, Iowa, Missouri, Tennessee, and Wj-sconsin. 

Table 12. Median age of husband and wife at decree, by number of children reported: five selected


States, 1963


[By place of occurrence. Based on probability sample. Medians computed from grouped data. Asterisks denote medians computed from less than 

100 casee] 

Selected States


Number of Husband Wife
 children


Total Hawaii Iowa Mo . Term; Wis . Total Hawaii Iowa Mo . Term. Wis.


Median age at decree


All decrees- 33.0 34.9 34.2 35.4 30.9 32.6 29.8 31.1 30.1 32.2
 _ _


None 39.6 39.0 38.9 40.3 38.2 41.4 36.2 34.7 36.3 36.4 34.9 39.6 

Gne------------ 29.6 33.8 28.3 31.1 28.6 30.8 26.4 30.5 25.0 27.4 25.0 27.5 

Two------------ 32.1 33.1 29.9 31.4 33.0 33.2 28.9 30.2 27.7 28.4 29.5 29.4 

Three 34.0 35.5 33.0 34.0 34.1 34.2 30.1 31.2 29.8 30.3 29.9 30.8 

Four 34.2 36.9 35.0 34.8 36.1 35.4 31.7 33.3 31.7 30.5 32.2 32.4 

Five 36.9 *36.4 36.2 36.0 38.8 36.9 33.0 “33. 8 32.6 30.8 33.0 33.9 

Six or more---- 39.1 

II 

*39. 1 37.9 38.8 1

40.2 39.0
 34.3 “34. 8 34.6 33.9 34.3 34.5

24

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Table 13. Percent distributionof children involved in divorces and annulments, by ageof parents 

at decree: five selected States, 1963 

[BY place of occurrence. Based on probability sample] 

Selected States 

Age of parents at decree 

Total Hawaii Iowa Mo . Term. Wis. 

Father Percent distribution


All ages —

100.0 100.0 100.( 100.C — 

100.0 100.0

Under 25 years .-- 11.3 7.5 14.C 11.2 12.4 8.6 

25-29 years 20.1 15.7 22.1 20.8 20.2 18.4 

30-34 years ------.------------- 21.7 23.1 20.8 22.5 19.6 23.9 

35-39 years 19.5 20.7 19.3 19.1 19.6 19.2 

40-44 years --.-- 14.9 16.8 12.7 15.4 14.7 15.7 

45-49 yeara --.------------- ‘6.6 9.7 7.0 5.3 7.0 7.2 

50 years and over 5.8 6.5 4.0 5.7 6.1 7.0 

Mother


All ages	 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 — — -

Under 25 years 23.1 16.7 24.5 24.7 23.8 19.8


25-29 years 24.2 20.5 23.7 25.2 24.9 23.3


30-34 years ---,------ 21.7 23.2 23.3 21.7 21.0 20.7


35-39 years 17.0 20.7 16.6 15.6 16.2 19.9


40-44 years -
 9.4 12.7 7.9 8.8 9.2 11.0


45-49 years---.------------.-- 3.3 4.6 3.2 2.4 3.9 3.5


50 years and over - 1.3 1.7 0.8 “1.5 0.9 1.9 

25 
----------------------------------

Table 14. Mean number of children by age of parents at decree: five selected Statea, 1963


Age of parents


at decree


All ages---


Under 25 years---


25-29 years------


30-34 years------


35-39 years------


40-44 years------


45-49 years------


50+ years-------­


[By place of occurrence. Based on probability SmPIe] 

Selected States


Father Mother


Total Hawaii Iowa NO. Term. Wis. Tota 1 Hawaii Iowa Mo . Term. Wis.


I Mean number of children ~er decree


1.6 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.6
 -


HP + 

0.9 1.1 0.8 1.0 0.9 

1.4 ::; 1.7 1.3 1.8 1.7 ;:: 1.9 2.3 2.1 1.9 1.9 1.8 2.3 

1.9 2.3 1.8 2.3 

1.6 ;:: 1.8 1.4 .::; ::: 1.7 1.4 0.9 0.5 0.7 ::; ::; 1.0 1 0.5 0.4 0.2 0.1 0.3

Table 15. Number of divorces and annulments, by age at marriage of husband and wife and percent


distribution, by number of children reported: total of five selected States; 1963


[Byplace
of occ.mn.e. 

Age at marriage


Husband


All ages2------------------------------


Under 20 years-------------------------------

20-24 years----------------------------------

25-29 years 

30-39 years----------------------------------

40+ years------------------------------------

Wife


All ages2------------------------------


Under 20 years-------------------------------


20-24 years----------------------------------


25-29 years----------------------------------


30-39 years----------------------------------


40+ years------------------------------------


Based on probability sample] 

— -

Number of children


All


iecrees Total


None 1 2 3


I I I 

Number Percent distribution


33,615 100.0 40.6 22’.8 17.0 10.4
 _ _


6,338 100.0 25.2 27.7 24.3 12.6 

12,782 100.0 30.0 25.0 20.3 13.3 

5,331 100.0 39.2 23.0 17.2 10.1 

4,515 100.0 58.4 18.8 10.1 6.L 

3,502 100.0 83.6 9.7 3.2 1.6 

33,615 100.0 40.6 22.8 17.0 10.4
 _


15,615 100.0 25.6 26.0 22.7 12.9 

7,900 100.0 36.8 26.0 16.9 11.9 

3,261 100.0 49.0 21.8 15.0 8.3 

‘3,11O 100.0 71.9 17.0 5.5 3.4 

2,360 100.0 94.7 3.2 1.2 0.7 

4 5+


1 

5.2 4.0
 _


6.2


6.5


5.5


::3


5.2


R


3.6


::?


1

I-?awaii,Iowa, Missouri, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. “ 

‘Includes decrees with age not stated. 

26

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Table 16. Mean number of children per”decree,by age of parents at marriage:five”selected States,


‘1963


[By place of occurrence. Based on probability smnplq 

Selected States 

Age at marriage Father Mother 

Total I Hawaii Iowa Mo. Term. Wis. Total Hawaii Iowa Mo . Term. Wis. 

Mean number of children per decree 

All ages--- 1.3 1.8 1.6 1.21 1.2 1.6 1.3 1.8 1.6 1.2 1.2 1.6 

Under 20 years--- 1.6 2.3 1.9 1.6 1.4 1.9 1.7 2.3 1.9 1.7 1.5 2.1 

20-24 years------ 1.6 2.0 1.8 1.5 1.4 1.9 1.3 1.8 1.6 1.2 1.1 1.6 

25-29 years 1.3 1.9 1.5 1.2 1.2 1.6 1.0 1.7 1.3 0.8 0.9 1.4 

30-39 years------ 0.9 1.7 1.1 0.8 0.7 1.1 0.5 1.5 0.6 0.3 0.4 0.6 

40+ years-------- 0.3 1.0 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.1 0.5 0.1 n“ 0.1 0.1 0.1

Table 17. Mean number of children per decree and percent of decrees with no children reported,


by marriage order of husband and wife: five selected States, 1963


[Byplace of occurrence. Based on probability sample] 

Selected States


Marriage order


rotal Hawa ii Iowa Mo . Term. Wis.


Mean number of children per decree


Remarriage 

All couples--------------------------------------- 1.3 1.8 1:6 1.2 1.2 1.6 

First marriage of both---------------------------------- 1.6 2.0 ‘1.8 1.4 1.4 1.8 

First marriage of mother, remarriage of father---------- 1.4 1.6 1.6 1.4 1.2 1.6 

First marriage of father, remarriage of mother---------- 1.0 1.8 1.2 0.7 0.9 1.3 

of both-------------------------------------- 70.6 1.3 0.9 0.6 0.5 0.6 

Percent without children


All couples--------------------------------------- 6;0.6 28.6 33.2 45.2 43.8 33.2 

First marriage of both-----.---------------------------:- 30.9 22.7 23.2 36.6 32.4 23.6


First marriage of wife, remarriage of husband 38.4 32.4 29.8 39.8 44.2 31.6


First marriage of husband, remarriage of wife 55.5 31.8 44.6 67.0 56.4 48.5


Remarriage of both-------------------------------------- 68.1 47.3 I

59.3 69.8 71.9 71.2


. . I 

27

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------------------

------------------

----------------

------------------

------------------

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----------------

. Table 18. Mean number of children per decree, by marriage order, age at decree, and color of 

parents: total of five selected States,l 1963 

[Byplace of occurrence. Based onprobability smple] 

Nonwhite


Marriage order and


age at decree


All decrees


All ages


Under 25 years


25-34 years


35 years or more


First marriage 

All ages 

Under 25 years


25-34 years---------------------


35 years or more


Remarriage


All ages


Under 35 years


35-44 years


45 years or more


Total White


Continental
 Hawaii
 States


I I I 

Father Mother Father Mother Father Mother 

Mean number of children per decree


1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.1 1.1 2.0 2.1


0.9 1.0 0.8 1.0 1.3 1.2 1.4 1.6 

1.6 1.9 1.6 1.9 1.5 1.8 2.2 2.4 

1.3 1.1 1.3 1.1 0.9 0.6 2.1 2.1 

1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.1 1.3 2.1 2.2 

0.9 1.0 0.8 1.0 1.3 1.2 1.4 1.7 

1.8 2.2 1.8 2.2 1.6 2.0 2.2 2.5 

1.6 1.5 1.7 1.6 0.9 0.7 2.2 2.2 

0.9 0.7 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.4 1.6 1.8 

1.0 1.1 1.0 1.1 0.6 0.8 2.1 1.9 

1.2 0.9 1.1 0.9 1.3 0.3 2.0 2.4 

0.6 0.2 0.6 0.2 0.5 0.1 0.9 0.9 

lHawaii, Iowa, Missouri, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.


28

Table 19. Mean number of children per decree, by marriage order, age at marriage, and color of -


parents: total of five selected States,l 1963


[By place of occurrence. Based cm probability sample] 

Nonwhite


Total White


Marriage order and age Continental Hawaii
 at marriage States


Father Mother IIFather Mother Father Mother Father Mother 

All decrees Mean number of children per decree 

All ages------------------ 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.1 1.1 2.0 2.1 

Under 20 years------------------ 1.6 “1.7 1.6 1.7 1.3 1.6 2.7 2.6 

20-24 years--------------------- 1.6 1.3 1.6 1.3 1.4 1.4 2.1 2.0 

2.5years o; more---------------- 0.9 0.6 0.9 0.6 0.5 0.3 1.8 1.7 

First marriage 

All ages------------------ 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.2 1.3 2.1 2.2 

Under 20 years------------------ 1.6 1.7 1.6 1.7 1.3 1.6 2.7 2.6 

20-24 years--------------------- 1.6 1.4 1.6 1.4 1.3 1.4 2.1 1.9 

25 years or more---------------- 1.1 0.8 1.1 0.8 0.8 0.4 1.9 1.5 

Remarriage


All ages------------------ 0.9 0.7 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.4 1.6 1.8 

Under 25 years------------------ 1.5 1.3 1.4 1.3 2.2 0.9 1.6 2.3 

25-34 years--------------------- 1.2 0.8 1.2 0.9 0.8 0.4 2.0 2.0 

35 years or more---------------- 0.4 0.2 0.4 0.2 0.5 0.0 1.2 1.4 

lHawaii, Iowa, Missouri, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.


I29 
-------------

-------

-------------

------------

-------

-----------------------------------------------

Table 20. Mean number of children per decree and percent of decrees with no children reported,


by resident status of the defendant: five selected Sta,tes,1963


[Byplace ofocmrrrerrce. Basedonprobability
 sample]


Divorce State and defendant


Residence.of defendant Hawaii Iowa Missouri Tennessee Wiscon5in


Hus­
 band Wife ;:d Wife ~:: Wife g;; Wife ~:; Wife


Mean number of children per decree


Total 1.4 1.1 1.9 1.7 1.6 1.2 1.3 1.0 1.2 0.9 1.7 1.3


Divorce State----------- 1.5 1.1 2.0 1.9 1,7 1.3 1.3 1.1 1.3 1.0 1.8 1.3


Other State,


same region------------ 1.2 0.8 1.4 1.1 1,3 1.4 0.9 0.5 1.1 0.7 1.5 1.1


Outside of region II1.2
 1.0 , 1.8 1.1 1.4 1.2 1.2 0.9 0.8 0.8 1.0 1.1 

Percent without children


Total 37.0 51.6 24.1 38.3 30.1 41.8 56.5 40.0 54.4 29.9 44.7


Divorce State----------- 36.2 49.1 23.2 32.6 29.5 41.7 42.1 53.1 38.0 52.6 28.3 44.2


Other State,
 same region 44.1 58.2 36.6 49.2 40.7 40.0 52.9 71.4 43.7 58.3 34.6 50.0


Outside of region I

40.6 53.6 m 20.2 50.0 30.0 49.3 37.1 62.2 54.1 49.2 44.2 46.8


Table 21. Median number of children per decree, ‘by duration of marriage: United States and each


~eographic”reg;on, 1960


[3yplace ofoccurrence. Basedonprobability
 sampI~”,


United North- North
 Duration of marriage States east Central South West


‘---- ._.-

Median number of children per decree


Total 1.3 1.6 1.3 1.2 1.3


Under 1 year---------------------------------------------- 0.6 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.6


1-2 years------------------------------------------------- 0.8 0,9 0.8 0.8 0.7


3-4 years-----------------------------------------J------- 1.L 1.3 1.2 2.0 1.2


5-9 years------------------------------------------------- 1.6 1.9 1.7 1.6 1.5


10-14 years----------------------------------------------- 2.3 2,0 2.4 2.3 2.2


15 years and over----------------------------------------- 1.7 2.1 1.8 1.6 1.7


30 
--------------

--------------------------------------

---------------------------------------

--------------------------------------

--------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------

---------------------------------------

-------------------------------------

-------------------------------------

-------------------------------------

--------------------------------------

-------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------

---------------------------------------

---------------------------------

---------------------------------

---------------------------------

------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------

-------------------------------------

------------------------------------

--------------------------------------

Table 22. Median number of children per decree, by duration of marriage: divorce-registration
 area and each registration State, 1963


l[By pIace of occurrence. Based on probability sampl~ 

Duration of marriage


All
 State
 decrees Under 1-2 34 59


1 10-14 15-1-


year years years years years years


Median number of children per decree


Divorce-registration area 1.5 0.6 0.9 1.3 2.( 2.4 1.8
 - —


Alabama 1.5 0.6 0.9 1.2 l.: 2.5 1.9 

Alaska 1.4 0.6 0.9 1.3 l.~ 2.2 2.3 

Georgia 1.4 0.6 0.9 1.4 2.C 2.3 1.7 

Hawaii------------=-------------------------- 2.0 0.9 1.2 1.9 2.4 2.9 2.2 

Indiana 1.5 0.6 0.9 1.6 2.2 2.7 2.3 

Iowa 1.7 0.6 1.0 1.7 2.4 3.3 2.1 

Kansas .1.6 0.6 0.9 1.5 2.1 2.8 2.5 

Maryland 1.5 0.7 0.8 1.1 1.6 1.9 1.7 

Michigan 1.5 0.6 0.9 1.2 2.1 2.6 1.5 

Missouri 1.2 0.6 0.9 1.2 1.9 2.2 1.5 

Montana 1.5 0.6 1.0 1.5 2.1 2.7 2.0 

Nebraska 1.4 0.7 0.9 1.1 2.0 2.6 2.0 

Ohio 1.5 0.6 0.8 1.3 1.8 2.4 1.9 

Oregon 1.4 0.6 0.8 1.4 2.1 2.5 1.9 

Pennsylvania 1.7 0.6 1.6 1.5 2.0 2.4 1.8 

Khode Island 1.8 (1) 0.9 1.5 2.2 2.4 1.8 

South Dakota 1.6 0.7 0.9 1.6 2.2 2.6 2.2 

Tennessee 1.2 0.6 0.9 1.1 1.9 2.2 1.5 

Utah 1.8 ‘0.7 1.2 1.6 2.5 3.9 2.5 

Virginia 1.3 (2),: 0.7 1.0 1.7 1.9 1.6 

Wisconsin 1.4 0.6 0.9 1.4 2.4 2.8 2.0 

Wyoming 1.6 0.6 0.9 1.3 2.4 2.7 2.0 

15 cases.


235 cases, including 10 with number of children not stated.


31

-------------------------------------------

Table 23. Number of decrees by duration of marriage and percent distribution, by number of


children reported: United States, 1960


[Refers to data occurring within the IJnited states. fjased on probability SamPIe] 

Number of
 Duration of marriage decrees


= 

Percent distribution


Total 393,388 100..0 43.3 23.0	 17.4 16.3 _ 

Under 1 year------------------------------------------ 23,367 100.0 87.9 7.3 1.5 3.3 

1-2 years--------------------------------------------- 61,100 100.0 62.0 32.1 4.4 1.4 

3-4 years--------------------------------------------- 57,541 100.0 46.2 32.4 17.3 4.1 

5-9 years--------------------------------------------- 92,790 100.0 36.3 22.5 25.1 16.2 

10-14 years------------------------------------------- 64,412 100.0 25.5 18.4 22.5 33.5 

15+ years--------------------------------------------- 79,409 100.0 36.6 18.4 18.8 26.2 

Table 24. Number of decrees by number of children repgrted and percent distribution, by dura­
 .
 tion of marriage: United States, 1960


[Refers tndatao.cuming within theUnited States.
 Basedo.probability sample] 

Duration of marriage


All decrees-------------------------------------


All decrees-------------------------------------


Under 1 year------------------------------------------


1-2 years---------------------------------------------


3-4 years---------------------------------------------


5-9 years---------------------------------------------


10-14 years-------------------------------------------


15-I-
years---------------------------------------------


Median duration---------------------------------------


EEi!2EE


Number of decrees


393,388 II159,165184,7111 63,9271 59,783


Percent distribution


100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 — 

6.2 12.2 1.9 0.5 1.2 

16.1 22.9 22.2 4.0 1.4 

15.2 16.3 21.4 15.2 3.8 

24.5 20.7 24.0 35.4 24.5 

17.0 10.2 13.8 22.3 35.5 

21.0 17.7 16.6 22.6 33.5 

7.5 4.8 5.9 9.3 12.7 

32

----------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------

Table 25. Mean number of children per decree, by marriage order, duration of marriage, and color


of parenta: total of five selected Statea,l 1963


[Byplace ofooxmence.Basedonprobability
 sarnpl~


Nonwhite


Marriage order and duration of marriage couples
 ’11II “itei==l I I 

All couples Mean number of children per decree


Total 1.3 1.3 1.1 2.0 

Under 1 year--------------------------------------------- 0.2 0.2 0.1” 1.1 

1-2 years------------------------------------------------ 0.5 0.5 0.4 1.1 

3-4,years------------------------------------------------ 1.0 1.0 0.8 1.6 

5-9 years------------------------------------------------ 1.6 1.7 1.3 2.3 

10-14 years---------------------------------------------- 2.1 2.1 1.9 3.0 

15 yeara and over---------------------------------------- 1.7 1.8 0.9 2.2 

Both spouses married once


Total---------------------------------------------- 1.6 1.6 1.2 2.2


Under 1 year 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.6


1-2 years------------------------------------------------ 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.9


3-4 years------------------------------------------------ 1.2 1.1 1.1 1.6


5-9 years------------------------------------------------ 1.9 1.9 1.5 2.3


10-14 years---------------------------------------------- 2.5 2.5 2.0 3.4


15 years and over---------------------------------------- 1.8 1.8 1.0 2.3


Both or either spouse married more than once


Total 0.9 0.9 0.7 1.8


Under 1 year--------------------------------------------- 0.3 0.3 1.7 

1-2 yeara------------------------------------------------ 0.5 0.5 0.2 1.3 

3-4 years------------------------------------------------ 0.7 0.7 0.2 1.6 

5-9 years------------------------------------------------ 1.1 1.1 0.7 2.1 

10-14 years---------------------------------------------- 1.5 1.5 1.6 1.7 

15 years.and over---------------------------------------- 1.4 1.5 0.6 2.0 

lHawaii, Iowa Missouri, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. 

33

------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------

Table 26. Percent of divorces and annulments with no children reported, by marriage order, dura­


tion of marriage, and color of couple: total of five selected States,l 1963


[By place of occurrence. Based m probability sample] 

Nonwhite


Marriage order and duration of marriage couples
 ‘1’“iteF=T 

All couples


Total


Under 1 year---------------------------------------------


1-2 yeara-----------------------------------------------'-


3-4 years------------------------------------------------


5-9 years------------------------------------------------


10-14 yeara----------------------------------------------


15 yeara and over----------------------------------------


Both spouses married once


Total


Under 1 year---------------------------------------------


1-2 yeara------------------------------------------------


3-4 years------------------------------------------------


5-9 years------------------------------------------------


10-14 years----;----------------------------------------­


15 years and over----------------------------------------


Both or either sDouae married more than once 

Total----------------------------------------------


Under 1 year---------------------------------------------


1-2 yeara------------------------------------------------


3-4 years------------------------------------------------


5-9 yeara----------------------,-------------------------­


10-14 yeara----------------------------------------------


15 years and over---------------------------------------­


lHawaii, Iowa, Missouri, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.


Percent of divorces


40.6 39.7 53.7 23.9


83.5 84.1 89.4 49.0


56.9 57.0 64.1 36.7


39.8 39.9 44.4 24.7


28.8 27.4 41.5 17.4


23.3 20.8 40.6 13.2


37.7 33.8 69.8 25.1


30.9 29.9 44.1 19.0


84.1 84.8 82.1 60.0


47.8 49.2 33.8 31.2


28.7 29.3 27.6 20.0


17.0 L5.7 28.0 13.3


13.1 10.2 31.8 7.0


34.9 31.0 69.3 21.7


57.5 56.5 72.8 34.4


82.8 83.3 100.0 37.5 

67.7 66.6 89.7 43.5 

59.2 58.1 80.5 36.0 

49.5 48.0 56.7 25.6 

42.6 41.1 52.9 33.3 

46.5 43.1 72.3 35.7 

34

--------------------------

-------

----------------

APPENDIX


SOURCES AND QUALITY OF DATA


Sources of Data 

National and State totals shown in this report are 

based on figures published in the Vital Statistics of the 

United States, 1950-65, and the vital statistics publications of the following 11 States: Connecticut, Florida, 

Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New 

Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, and Vermont. In addition, 1963 divorce data were tabulated by the number 

of children reported, classified by various demographic 

variables. These tabulations were limited to the five 

States that reported all the pertinent variables with at 

least 90-percent completeness: Hawaii, Iowa, Missouri, 

Tennessee, and Wisconsin. Data from the five States are 

based on probability samples, and the statistics are 

subject to sampling variability. The sampling rates in 

1963 were intended to secure samples of at least 1,000 

records from each State (table I). 

‘ The Available Data 

Information about children of divorced couples is 

found on the divorce and annulment records of 38 

States, including all States that participate in the 

divorce-registration area (DRA). This report includes 

the available information from 29 States for the period 

1950-65. In this report two terms are used— “children 

reported” and “children involved. ” “Children reported” 

refers to the number of children in the family of a 

divorced couple, as reported on the divorce record: 

none, one, two, three, and so forth. “Children involved” 

refers to the total number of “children, as computed, or 

estimated from data on children reported. Thus, if 

there are 20 divorced couples reporting three children 

each, the number of children reported is three, but the 

number of children involved is 60 (20 x 3=60). 

The Standard Record of Divorce or Annulment, 

recommended by the National Center for Health 

Statistics (NCHS) for use by the States, calls for informs tion on the “number of children under 18” and this 

number is understood to include not only children born 

to the couple, but also adopted children, and children of 

former marriages living with the couple. Most States 

adhere to the recommended definition, but some variation is found in some States included in this repmt 

as shown in the footnotes to tables 9 and 10. These 

variations are not as important as they may seem, 

because comparatively few divorced couples are likely 

to have children over 18 years old still. affected by the 

decrees. 

No information about children, except for their 

number, was required on the Standard Record of Divorce 

or Amulment, though their race could be deduced from 

data for their parents. On the other hand, detailed statistical information is available for the divorced couple 

and was used in the tabulations prepared for the five 

States. 

The earliest data on children of divorced persons 

are available for the year 1867 for each State and territory. Statistics have been published for the years 1867-

1906,6 1922-32: and 1950 -63.8 

Table I. Sampling rates and sample size: five selected States, 1963 

Selected States 

Sampling rate and sample size I I I I 

Total Hawa LL I lowa I llissouri I Tennessee I IJiaconsin 

t 

Sampling rate I . . . 

Number of sample records-------; 9,682 

Estimated divorce total 33,615 

I I I t I ,, 

35 
-------------------------

-----------------------------

------------------------------

-----------------------------

------------------------------

-------------------------------

-------------------------------- ------------------------------ ----------------------------

----------------------------

-----------------------------

-----------------------------

---------------------------- -------------------------------- ------------------------------ ------------------------

------------------------

------------------------ --------------------------- -------------------------------- ----------------------------

--------------------------- -----------------------------

------------------------- ----------------------------- ------------------------------- ------------------------- -----------------------

------------------------ -----------------------------

------------------------------------

---------------------------------- -------------------------------------

---------------------------------- -------------------------------------

---------------------------------- -------------------------------------

---------------------------------- -------------------------------------

---------------------------------- ------------------------------------- -----------------------

Table11. Percent completenessof reportingof


the number of children: divorce-registration
 area and each State, 1965


Percent


State complete­
 ness


.
DRA


Total


Alabama


Alaska


Georgia


Hawaii


Idaho


Iowa


Kansas


Maryland


Michigan


Missouri


Montana


Nebraska


Ohio


Oregon


Pennsylvania


Rhode Island


South Dakota


Tennessee


Utah


Virginia


Wisconsin


Wyoming


Other reDortin~States


Connecticut


Florida


Maine


Mississippi


New Hampshire


North Dakota


Vermont


94.3


84.7


99.3


82.6


97.8


98.5


99.5


99.7


72.4


96.3


99.0


99.2


99.7


99.7


92.2


95.5


97.6


99.4


99.0


63.3


99.7


99.3


98.7


99.5


99.1


100.0 

98.7


99.9


100.0


100.0 

Completeness of Data 

The qualityof reporting
thenumber of children


variesamong theregistration States.
In 1965thein-


formation concerning children
 was givenin94.3percent


of decreesreportedfrom theDRA, butinfouroutof


the22 Statesthispercentage
was under85.0,whileat


theotherextreme11registration States(Alaska,
Iowa,


Kansas, Missouri,Montana,Nebraska,Ohio,South


Dakota,Tennessee,Virginia, and Wisconsin)
and six


otherreportingStates(Connecticut, Florida,
Maine,


New Hampshire,North Dakota,and Vermont)had a


levelof completenessof 99.0 percentor higher.


Table11shows thepercentage
of1965caseswith


thenumber ofchildren reported forallStates
included


in the report.Table HI givesthesame information


aboutthereporting ofotherrelevant variables
 inthe


fiveselected States
in1963.


Summary Measures 

Severalmeasures areusedinthisreporttosum­


marize theinformation on children involved
indivorce


cases,


1. The childinvolvementyategivesthenumber of


childreninvolvedin divorcecasesper 1,000


children under18 inchepopulation
 ofa given


area.Childrenincluded
inthedenominatorcom­


prisenotonlychildren ofmarriedcouples,
 who


are subjectto the risk of beinginvolved
in


divorce, but also orphans andchildrenof


widowed,divorced, andsingle
parents.


2. Mean number of childven pe-vdivwce(ovvatio 

of child~en pew decree) relatesthenumber of 

. 

Table III. Percent completenessof reporting of selected statLsti.calvariablea: five aelec~ed


States, 1963


SelectedStates


Statisticalvariable


Total Hawaii Iowa Missouri Tennessee Wisconsin


Average 97.1 98.2 98.8 96.8 96.1 97.7 

Age at decree: 

Husband 97.4 97.1 99.7 96.3 96.7 99.4 

Wife 97.3 96.7 99.8 96.3 96.2 99.5 

Age at marriage: 

Husband 96.6 97.1 99.3 95.3 95.6 99.1 

Wife 95.9 96.4 99.2 94.7 94.3 99.0 

Race: 

Husband 98.9 98.8 99.6 98.5 99.0 99.0 

Wife 98.6 98.2 99.3 98.2 98.8 98.9 

Marriage order: 

Husband 97.9 99.7 99.4 98.3 97.4 95.9 

Wife 98.2 99.5 99.5 98.8 97.3 96.7 

Residence of defendant: 

Husband 94.5 98.3 96.1 94.8 93.2 93.6 

Wife 94.1 98.1 94.9 95.8 91.2 94.3 

Duration of marriage 98.5 99.8 99.5 98.1 97.8 99.5 

36

children involved to the number of divorces and 

amulments granted. 

3.	 Median number of children@ decree is useful 

in cases where the distribution has a large 

upper open-ended interval (such as three or more 

children), and for this reason a mean canno~ be 

computed. 

4. Mean num bev of childyen pW divorce with children	 relates the number of children to the number 

of decrees explicitly reporting children, and 

therefore it is useful in cases where a high proportion of divorce records has no information 

as to children. This is the only measure available 

for the years 1867-1906. 

5.	 Percentage of divorce reporting no children 

(or, conversely, pe-rcentage vepovting childven) 

can be used as a rough measure of the relationship between the presence of children and 

marriage stability of the parental couple. The 

category reporting no children is a composite 

of: (1) recently married couples, (2) couples to 

whom no children were born, irrespective of 

tbe duration of marriage, and (3) couples with 

all children over 18 years of age. 

Estimation of the Number of Children Involved 

for States 

The total numbers of chiIdren involved in divorce 

cases are estimated from data on divorces and annulments classified by number of children reported. The 

number of divorces reporting one child is multiplied 

by 1, that reporting two children, by 2, and so forth. 

The sum of the products is the total number of children 

involved in divorce cases in a given State. For States 

outside the DRA, factors to be used for the upper openended interval were calculated from the available data. 

These factors were: for three or more children, 3.57; 

for four or more, 4.76; for five or more, 5.71; for six or 

more, 6.70; for seven or more, 7.72, for eight or more, 

8.75; for nine or more, 9.78; and for 10 or more children, 

10.82. 

Divorces with the number of children not stated 

were distributed proportionally, on the assumption that 

the “not stated” cases are random with respect to the 

number of children reported. However, it has been 

shown,g that this assumption does not hold for areas 

with a high proportion of divorces with children “not 

stated” and that the “not stated” cases contain a disproportionately large fraction of couples with no re- ­

portable children. 

Therefore, the coding rules were changed for, 

1965. Prior to 1965, if”a State divorce record had two 

or more items relating to children, only the item 

“number of children under 18, ” or a similarly worded 

item, was coded, and the other items ignored. In 1965, 

in cases where this item was left blank, another 

available item relating to children was coded, e.g., 

the number of chiIdren of this marriage. Due to this 

change in coding, the completeness of reporting increased, particularly in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. 

In these States, the proportion of cases reporting no 

children increased, and therefore the estimated 

numbers of children declined. 

Estimates of the National Number 

of Children Involved 

The number of children involved for groups of 

States, including the DRA, are the sums of the totals 

for the respective States, but the estimation of the 

national figures is more involved, and estimating 

methods have been changed several times. 

For the years before 1960, the national annual 

divorce total was multiplied by the average number of 

children per decree for the total of all States reporting 

for a given year. 

For 1960, the number of children was estimated 

from a nationwide probability sample of divorce transcripts. Regional figures were aIso estimated in this 

manner. 

For the years 1961-64, the national estimates were 

originally obtained by multiplying by 5.40039 the com ­

bined estimates for 14 States—Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, 

Kansas, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, Wisconsin, 

and Wyoming. The factor 5.40039 is the ratio of the 

1960 national estimate of children, prepared from the 

nationwide sample, to the comparable figure for the 14 

States combined. 

This method had to be abandoned for 1965, since 

Pennsylvania was one of the States included in the estimating procedures and the estimate of the number of “ 

children declined by 3,054 in that State, due to the new 

coding rules. As the factor was 5.40039, the na:ional 

estimate declined by 16,493 simply because coding 

rules were changed in one of the 14 States used for 

estimation. The following new method was used to 

estimate the number of children for 1965: the national 

divorce total was multiplied by the mean number of 

children per decree in a group of 16 States with satisfactory reporting in all or most years in the recent 

past. These States are: Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, 

Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, 

Oregon, South Dakota, Temessee, Virginia, Wisconsin, 

and Wyoming. The national totals for the years 1961-64 

were reestimated using this new method, hence national 

figures for the years after 1960, as published in this 

report, are comparable, but differ slightly from totals 

shovni in earlier publications. For the 5 years combined (1961-65) this difference is only about -0.5 

percent (table IV) 

37 
Table IV. Comparison of estimates of the number 

of children involved in divorce, prepared 

using two methods: United States, 1961-65 

[The previous method consisted in multiplying by a factor of 5.40039 

the combined total for a group of 14 States; the present method consists in applying to the national divorce total the ratio of children 

per decree observed for 16 States with satisfactory reporting] 

—, 

I I I 

Percent 

Year Previous Present differ- method method ence 

Total--- 2,866,000 I 2,853,000 I -0.5 

I I 

1965------- 612,000 630,000 

1964------ 634,000 613,000 -;:; 

1963------ 583,000 562,000 -3.6 

1962------ 537,000 532,000 -0.9 

1961------ 501,000 516,000 +3.0 

Rates 

Two types of rates are used in the present study— 

the child involvement rate and the divorce rate by 

number of children. 

1.	 The child involvemmt rate is shown in tables 1 

anti 4. This rate relates the estimated number of 

children involved in divorce to the total number 

of children under 18 years of age enumerated or 

estimated for aparticular year and area by the 

Bureau of the Census, as publishedin decennial 

Census publications and in Cuyvent Population 

Re~oyts, Series P-25. 

2.	 The divorce rare bynumi]er of children reported 

relates the 1960 national and regional figureson 

divorces by number of children to estimates of 

the number of married couples with a given 

num>er of children (table 5). Denominators for 

divorce rates of couples with one or more 

children were computed from the two publications of the 1960 Census: Population Cltaracte-ristics, U.S. Summavy 10, tables 185 and 246, 

and Subject Repovts, Families, 4 tables 6 and 

21. Denominators for rates of couples with no 

children under 18 were computed by subtrsctin: 

the num’mr of married couples with children, 

obtained from the sources listed above, from 

the number of married females under 55 years 

of age enumerated in 1960. As very few married 

females 55 years old or older eirhcr divorce o r 

have children under 18, the population of wome]n 

without children was also limited [o those under 

55. In this manner the rates for couples wir.!l 

no	 children became comparable to :hose for 

couples with a given number of childrer:. 

Estimation af Statistics Based on 

Probability Sample 

Sample cases were multiplied bythe reciprocal of 

the probability with which they were selecced. Thus, 

if a divorce record was selected from a State wirh a 

probability of 1/5, each item on that record carrieda 

weight of 5, whereas if 100 percent of the records 

were processed from a State, each item oneach record 

carried a weight of 1. The sampling rates, indicating 

the probability with which divorce records of every 

State were select. ed, are shown in table I. Frequencies 

were estimated by summing the inflated number of 

cases. Thus each frequency distribution is a sum of 

the, weighted sample cases included. 

It should be noted that the weights of all sample 

records are identical within each registration area 

State. However, weights for divorce sample records 

for the five States combined vary from 1 to 10, and 

variation between two or more equal frequencies in 

the relative proportions of cases with various weights 

results in each such subtotal having its distinctive 

sampling error. 

Percentages, means, and medians were computed 

using data which excluded the estimated numbers of “not 

stated” cases. 

Sampling Errors of Estimates 

Estimates computed from the samples (except 

statistics of States where the sample includes all 

records) are subject to sampling error. Since all cases 

in these samples were selected with known probabilitie,a, 

the sampling error can be computed for each estim:}te. 

The sampling errors for estimated percentages shown 

in table V were com,wted by dividing the sampling 

errors for the estimated frequencies by the estimate. 

of all divorces granted in the area. These sampling 

errors are the amounts which, when added to and 

subtracted from the estimate give the intervals where 

the quantity being estimated would fall in approximately 

68 out of 100 similarly selected samples. As an 

example, suppose the percentage of couples reporting 

three children in Wisconsin was 12 percent of the 

State total. The error shown in table V for this percentage is about 0.4. By adding and subtracting 0.4 

from 12 one secures the interval 11.6 to 12.4; the 

chances are about 68 out of 100 that this interval contains the actual percentage of couples with three 

children. 

To determine if the difference between two proportions is attributable to sampling variability or, is 

a true difference, divide this difference by the square 

root of the sum of the squares of their standard errors. 

If the quotient of this division is greater’ tha’n 2, then 

t!]e probabilitythat the difference is due to SamplillS, 

38 
---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---------------------------------

--------------------------------

---------------------------------

--------------------------------

---------------------------------

--------------------------------

---------------------------------

--------------------------------

---------------------------------

--------------------------------

---------------------------------

--------------------------------

Table V. Standard error of estimated percentages: five selected States, 1963


Selected States


EstimaCed percentage


Total Hawaiil Iowa Missouri Tennessee Wisconsin


All decrees----------------------- 33,615 1,514 4,992 12,030 10,235 4,844


1 or 99--------------------------------- 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.2 0.1 

2 or 98--------------------------------- 0.2 0.2 0.4 

3 Or 9J--.----------------------1------- 0.2 0.2 0.5 ::: ::: 4 or 96--------------------------------- 0.2 0.3 0.5 0.4 0.3 

5 or 95--------------------------------- 0.3 = 0.6 0.4 

7 or 93--------------------------------- 0.3 ::: 0.8 0.5 ::; 10 or 90-------------------------------- 0.4 0.4 1.0” 0.4 

15 or 85-------------------------------- 0.4 0.5 1.0 H 0.5 

20 or 80-------------------------------- 0.6 1.1 0.6 

25 or 75-------------------------------- ::2 0.6 1.2 ;:; 0.6 

50-------------------------------------- 0.6 0.7 1.4 1.0 0.7 

lA1l records ”tabulated.


Table VI. Standard error of the estimated mean number of children, by age of father:five


selected States, 1963


Age of father at decree


State Tota 1
 Under


Total


Mean


Error


Relvariance (percent)----------------


Hawaii


Mean


Error


Relvariance (percent)----------------


Iowa


Mean


Error


Relvariance (percent)----------------


Missouri


Mean


Error


Relvariance (percent)----------------


Tennessee


Mean


Error


Relvariance (percent)----------------


Wisconsin


Mean


Error


Relvariance (percent)----------------


25 25-29 30-34 35-39 +0-44 45-49 50+ 

years years years years {ears years 

1.4 

.;i; .034 .M . ;:; .k: . M 

1.4 2.4 2.5 3.6 6.0 8.0 

1.8 1.6 2.3 2.2 1.7 1.0


1.4
 .;5! .M .;;: .M .090 .:62


1.4 2.5 3.1 4.4 6.4 9.8


1.2 0.4


.041 .:62 .;i; .;2: .%; .084


3.4 6.3 6.2 8.6 18.3 21.0


1.6
 .M .:;3 .078 .:6: .;i; .:62


2.3 4.4 4.9 7.2 11.4 13.8


2.3 2.1
 .k: .M .062 .084 .M .%:


1.5 2.9 2.7 4.0 6.2 7.3 .


39””

error is less than 1 in 20. For example, the proportions 

of divorces with three children reported were 12.6 

percem in Iowa and 8.9percenc in Tennessee, and the 

standard errors of these proportions were 0.4 percent 

and 0.6, respectively. Division of the difference by the 

square root of the sum of the squares of the standard 

errors results in the following equation: 

(.126 - .089) = 5.1 

i L004J2+ ,.006J2


This value is more than 2, and therefore it is very 

unlikely that such a difference could be attributed to 

sampling error alone. Hence the observed difference 

is to a high probability a true difference. 

The mean number of children per decree has also 

a standard error for States where data are compiled 

from probability samples. This standard error can be 

expressed by the following formula: 

f=, -1 1 

where ~ is the sampling fraction for State s (for 

example, 1/2 for Iowa.) fsa = estimated total divorces 

000 

for State s, age class a. (Note that the’ “not stated” 

divorces are excluded from f~a. ) 

f saj = estimated number of divorces in State s, age 

class a who had X,aj children ( j = O, 1, 2, 3, ---, 10). 

To obtain the sampling error of X: for the several 

States, use the following procedure: 

/ 

where f, ==~1 f==, or the total number of divorces for 

all States in age group a. 

The standard error of a mean includes variances 

of all groups reporting a given number of children 

weighted by the square of the number of children reported. Therefore families with large numbers of 

children contribute to the standard error of the mean 

out of proportion to their numerical size, and two identical means may have quite different standard errors 

depending on the distribution of divorces upon which 

the means are based by number of children reported, 

In order to illustrate the size of the sampling errors 

of means for the five participating States, errors by 

~ge of father at decree were computed (table VI). The 

relationships between the sampling errors and the 

correspondent means (relvariance) are also shown. 

* U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE -1970-396-240 P. 0. 19 

40

OUTLINE OF	 REPORT SERIES FOR VITAL AND HEALTH Statistics 

Public Health Service Publication No. 1000 

Series 1. Pro,yanzs and collection proceduYes.— Reports which describe the general programs of the National, 

Center for Health Statistics and its offices and divisions, data collection methods used, definitions, 

and other,material necessary for understanding the data. 

Se7-ies 2.	 Data evaluation and methods research. —Studies of new statistical methodology including: experimental tests of new survey methods, studies of vital statistics collection methods, new analytical 

techniques, objective evaluations of reliability of collected data, contributions to statistical theory. 

Series 3.	 Analytical studies. —Reports presenting analytical or interpretive studies based on vital and health 

statistics, carrying the analysis further than the expositor y types of reports in the other series. 

Seyies 4.	 Documents and committee ~epovts. — Final reports of major committees concerned with vital and 

health statistics, and documents such as recommended model vital registration laws and revised birth 

and death certificates. 

Series 10.€ Data fyom the Health InteYview .%wey. —Statistics on illness, accidental injuries, disability, use of 

hospital, medical, dental, and other services, and other health-related topics, based on data collected 

in a continuing national household interview survey. 

SeTies 11.€ Data from the Health Examination Survey .—Data’ from direct examination, testing, and measurement of national samples of the population provide the basis for two types of reports: (1) estimates 

of the medically defined prevalence of specific diseases in the United States and the distributions of 

the population with respect to physical, physiological, and psychological characteristics; and (2) 

analysis of relationships among the various measurements without reference to an explicit finite 

universe of persons. 

Series 12.	 Data from the Institutional Population %weys. — Statistics relating to the health characteristics of 

persons in institutions, and on medical, nursing, and personal care received, based on national 

samples of establishments providing these services and samples of the residents or patients. 

Series 13.€ Data fyom the Hospital Discha~ge Survey.— Statistics relating to discharged patients in short-stay 

hospitals, based on a sample of patient records in a national sample of hospitals. 

Sevies 14.€ Data on health resowces: manpower and facilities. — Statistics on the numbers, geographic distribution, and characteristics of health resources including physicians, dentists, nurses, other health 

manpower occupations, hospitals, nursinz homes, and outpatient and other inpatient facilities. 

Series 20. Data on mortality .- Various statistics on mortality other than as included in annual or monthlv . reports—L special analyses by cause of death, age, and other demographic variables, also geographic 

0 and time series analyses. 

SeYies 21. Data on natality, rnawiage, anddivorce. —Various statistics on natality, marriage, and divorce other 

than as included in annual or monthly reports —special analyses by demographic variables, also 

geographic and time series analyses, studies of fertility. 

Series 22.	 Data from’ the National Natality and Mortality Swveys, —Statistics on characteristics of bir~hs and 

deaths not available from the vital records, based on sample surveys stemming from these records, 

including such topics as mortality by socioeconomic class, medical experience in the last year of 

life, characteristics of pregnancy. etc. 

For a list of titles of reports published in these series, write to:	 Office of Information 

National Center for Health Statistic5 

U.S. Public Health Service 

Washington, D.C. 20201