DATA FRQM THE NATIONAL VITAL STATISTICS SYSTEM

Scrims 2a

Numb.r 21

Marriages

TrendsandCharacteristics s

United States

Analysis of national marriage data including trends over

the past 100 years, recent changes, national estimates by

age and sex, with special emphasis on more detailed statistics by selected characteristics for 1967.

Reprinted 1980

DHHS Publication No. (PHS) 81-1007

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

Public Health Service

Health Services and Mental Health Administration

National Center for Health Statistics

Rockville, Md. September 1971

NATIONAL CENTER FOR HEALTH STATISTICS

THEODORE D. WOOLSEY, Director

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

OSWALD K. SAGEN, Ph.D., Assktant Director for Health Statistics Devebpment

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

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

EDWARD E. MINTY. Executive Officer

ALICE HAYWOOD, Information Officer

DIVISION OF VITAL STATISTICS

ROBERT A. ISRAEL, MS., Director

JOHN E. PATT3RSON, Assistant Director for Demographic Affairs

ALICE M. HETZEL, Chiej Marriage and Divorce Statistics Branch

Vital and Health Statistics-Series 21, No. 21

DHEW Publication No. (HSM) 72-1007

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 73-610283
CONTENTS

Page

Introduction ------------------ --------------------------- -------------

National Trend --------------- -------------- -------------- ------- --.-.-

Numbers and Rates --------------------------- ----------------------

Rates for the Eiigible Population -------------------------------------

Median Age --------------------------------------------------------

Married Population --------------- --y---- ------- -------------- ------

Seasonal Variation ----------------------------------------------------

Geographic Variation --------------------------------------------------

@mo~aphic Characteristics -------------------------------------------

Lack ofNatfonal Data ---------------------------- -------------------

Marriage-Registration Area -----------------------------------------

National Estimates of Marriages by Age and Sex-----------------------

Changes During 1963-67 --------------------- ------------” ------- ------

Modal Age ---------------------------- ---------------------------- -

AgeofBrideby Age ofGroom ----------------------------------------

Age-Sex-Specific Rates --------------------------- ------------------

First Marriages and Remarriages ---------------------------- ----------

Interracial Marriages -------- ----------------------- -------- ------- ---

List ofDetafled Tables --------------------------- ------------------ ----

Appendix -General Notes --------------------------- ---------- ---------

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

Marriage Sample --------------- ---------------------- --------------

“Not Stated” Cases --------------------- -------------- --------------

Sampling Errors --------------------------- ------------------------

1

1

1

3

5

6

6“

8

12

12

12

13

14

14

15

15

17

19

22

32

32

32

33

33

...

Ill
SYMBOLS

Data not available ----------------------- ---

Category not applicable ------------------ . . .

Quantity zero------------------=-------- -

Quantity more than Obutless than0,05---- 0.0

Figure doesnot meet standards of

reliability or precision ------------------

*

iv
MARRIAGES:

TRENDS AND CHARACTERISTICS

Alice M. Hetzel and Marlene Cappetta, Division of Vital Statistics

INTRODUCTION

This is an analysis of national trends in

marriages over a period of 100 years, with

special emphasis on changes and characteristics

in recent years. Crude rates for the period

1940-1967 are compared’ with rates for the “eligible population.”

Until the mid-1950’s the trend in the United

States was toward earlier marriage and a narrowing of the age difference between bride and

groom at first marriage. From 1956 to 1967

there was a gradual though not continuous increase in the median age at first marriage for

both men and women.

National statistics for specific characteristics of brides and grooms are not available

for the entire United Stktes but are shown

for the marriage-re@ration area (MRA), comprised of States with central files of marriage

certificates and sufficiently complete and accurate reporting of demographic items on their

records to warrant collection, processing, and

publication in the official United States annual

reports. Data from these States, along with data

from several other States on the verge of admittance to the MRA, are the basis for the

national estimates of marriages by age and sex

shown in this report.

The national estimates for 1967 showed more

marriages occurring in ages 20-24 than in any

other age group. This was true for both men and

women. In 1966 it was true only for men, as

age group 15-19 led all others in number of

marriages for women. Marriage rates were

highest at ages 20-24 years for women and

for ages 25-29 for men.

NATIONAL TREND

Numbers and Rates

The annual number of marriages in the United

States has increased significantly since the end

of the Civil War. The number doubled between

1867 and 1900 and more than doubled between

1900 and 1940. From 1940 to 1968 it increased

about 30 percent. The general upward progression through the years has been largely the result

of a growing population.

The marriage rate relating all marriages to

total population has varied widely (figure 1).

Over the past 100 years it has fluctuated under

the influence of wars, changing economic conditions, the sex ratio of the marriageable population, and the number of potential brides and

grooms present in the general population. The

latter number depends primarily upon the size

of the birth cohorts that are the source of the

young persons entering the prime marriage ages

and upon any backlogs of marriage eligibles

that may buildup as a result of large numbers

of postponed marriages. Such backlogs have

been produced by wars and major economic

crises.

Characteristically, the marriage rate has

risen at the outset of a, major war, declined

during the course of the conflict, and increased

sharply in the immediate postwar years. This

was the experience during World Wars I and

II and was probably true of the Civil War;

%*UI H. Jacobson, Ph. D., .+?l=~i==. Mturiage and

Divorce, Rinehart and Company, Inc., New York, 1959.

1
t

GL

ofillll lltllll ollllll llllllfilflll, lltll, llrllll B&llltrlltltlfillllll ltaalflN1’tt’’U’’fl1”l”

~ 1870 1s00 1890 1900 1910 1930 1940 1950 ‘‘ ‘ld60w70

YEAR

. 1970 Provisional data

Figure 1. Marriage rate: Un i ted States, 1867-1970

Economic recessions and depressions generally rate plunged to a low of 7.9. probably wun=-

have had an inhibiting effect- upon marriages as

have shifts in the age-distribution of the population resulting in a smaller proportion of the

population at the young adult ages.

From 1867 to 1900, a period of reconstruction and rapid industrial and urban growth,

the marriage rate was relatively stable, staying

within the bounds of 8.6 and 9.6 per 1,000

population. 2 Early in the twentieth century the

marriage rate pushed upward, showing wider

fluctuations at a higher level until the stock

market crash in 1929. During this period, which

encompassed World War 1, the rate ranged

,from 9.6 to 12.0.

During the 1930’s and ’40’s fluctuations in

the marriage rate became even more pronounced,

In 1932, at the depth of the depression, the

~J

Estimates, based on incomplete data, publishcrl in

table 7 of National Office of Vi Lal Statistics, \’1/(11

Sfafisfics--Spc cltll Rrporfst vol. !27, No. 10, PP. 171

and 172, Washington, D. C. , 1947.

,.

cedented in this country except perhap-s during

the Civil War. 1 By 1934 the rate had more than

regained its predepression level and except for

a slight setback during the 1938 recession continued to increase through 1942. Just how much

of this upsurge was due to marriages postponed during the depression, how much to the

maturing of the large birth cohorts of 1910-25,

and how much to the onset of World War H

is not clear but undoubtedly all contributed.

The impact of World War II is unparalleled

in the history of the marriage rate for the

United States. Just before and immediately after

the United States’ entry into the warthemarriage

rate rose sharply as young men sought to avail

themselves of the deferred status granted to

married men or simply to marry before leaving

for overseas. From 1942 through 1944 the rate

declined as active participation in the war increased and more and more men were out of

the country. In 1945 the end of the war and the

return of millions of men to civilian life precipitated an upsurge in marriages. In 1946 the

2
marriage rate reached 16.4, an unprecedented

and to date unsurpassed peak. By 1949 the rate

had returned to the pre-World War 11 level,

dropping as rapidly as it had climbed. This

marked the end of 20 years of the most frequent

and pronounced fluctuations in the recorded

history of the United States marriage rate.

The behavior of the marriage rate in the

1950’s and ‘60’s was quite distinct from that

of earlier years. During this period, that was

unmarred by an economic depression but plagued

by two limited wars, the marriage rate did

not exhibit the stability of the late 19th century

nor the sharp fluctuations of the first half of

the 20th century. It changed from a downswing

in the 1950’s to an upswing in the 1960’s, but

the change was gradual with small year-to-year

differences. The major influences during these

two decades were the depletion of the young

unmarried population of the 1950’s by the high

marriage rates of the 1940’s and the low birth

rates of the 1930’s; the Korean conflict (1950-

1953); and the rapid buildup in the population

of young men and women reaching marriageable

ages in the 1960’s as a result of the high birth

rates following World War II.

The decline in the marriage rate precipitated

primarily by the depletion of the unmarried

population began in 1947. The downswing was

interrupted by the beginning of the Korean conflict in 1950 but continued during and after the

war. A post-war upsurge in marriages was conspicuously absent following the end of the Korean

engagement in mid-1953 although slight increases

occurred in 1955 and 1956. This general downswing

in the marriage rate was followed by a short

period of unprecedented stability. For four years

(1959-1962) the marriage rate remained unchanged at 8.5 marriages per 1,000 population.

Then began the continuous upswing still in progress but decelerating at the time this report

went to press.

It is not surprising that the effect of the

Korean conflict on the marriage rate was inconsequential when compared with the effect of World

War H. For one thing, only a little over onethird as many men served in the Korean War

as in World War H, and the immediate all-out

mobilization of the country effected for World

War H was not contemplated. In addition, the

opposite conditions prevailed immediately preceding the wars. Just before World War II there

was a backlog of postponed marriages as a

result of the depression. Also, in the 1940’s

there was a relatively large concentration of

young men and women, born before the rapid

decline in the birth rate, who were of ages

where marriages are most numerous. The Korean

War, on the other hand, not “only followed the

high marriage rates of the p&t-World War II

period and the consequent sharp ddcxease in the

unmarried population but occurred at a tiriielwhen

the population entering prime ages for marriage

was diminishing as a result of the low birth

rates of the 1930’s.

The conflict in Vietnam, the longest ever

fought by the United States, so far has exerted

no measurable effect on the annual marriage

rate. U.S. involvement progressed from a small

number of military advisers in the 1950’s to

a peak strength of a little more than onehalf million military personnel in 1969 (slightly

greater than the peak strength for the Korean

War). Perhaps because of the slow buildup and

the relatively short tours of duty for many of

the men involved, the conflict was not preceded

by an upsurge in the marriage rate nor was

there a decline when military forces built-up

to peak strength. Instead, from 1963 to 1967

the marriage rate increased continuously under

pressure of large numbers of young people

maturing to marriageable ages. The annual increases for those years ranged from 2.1 to 3.5

percent. Data now available for 1968-70 show

a marked increase in the marriage rate for

1968 (approximately 7 percent) but lesser increases for 1969 and 1970, about 2 and 1 percent, respectively.

Rates for the Eligible Population

The marriage rate relating all marriages

to the entire population of the United States

is a less precise measure of what is happening

to the marriageable population than are rates

based on populations with part or all of the

“ineligibles” eliminated. The likelihood of marriage is understated by a rate based on a population diluted with persons not eligible for marriage. Such a dilution in the total population is
accentuated when high birth rates produce a

rapid buildup of children or when high marriage

rates reduce substantially the number of unmarried persons. The former increases both

the size of the total population and the number

of ineligibles (in this case persons below marriageable age). The latter does not change the

size of the total population but reduces the number

of eligibles (the unmarried) at the same time

that it increases the number of ineligibles (the

married). Either can greatly reduce persons

eligible for marriage as a proportion of the

total population. As it does, the understatement

by the rate based on the”total population increases.

When the reverse occurs and persons eligible

for marriage account for a larger proportion

of the total population, such as recently occurred

when the post-World War H baby crop reached

marriageable age, the understatement by the crude

rate is reduced. Abrupt changes in the magnitude

of this understatement may be misleading. They

can exaggerate or minimize the rate of change

of the marriage rate.

Occasionally someone questions why a rate

as “crude” as the marriage rate per 1,000 total

population is published instead of the more refined measures. Part of the answer is that

data for computing the crude rates are frequently

available when data for computing other rates

are not. Computation of crude rates requires

use only of the total number of marriages

and the total population. Computation of rates

for the unmarried of marriageable ages, on the

other hand, requires data on the population

distribution by age, sex, and marital status.

In addition, the crude rate which measures

the chance that an event will occur in the total

population, has proved to be a useful indicator

of general levels of occurrence in comparisons

of different areas, and, if the composition of

the population of a given area is not changing

rapidly, it is an accurate indicator for year to

year comparisons.

In figure 2 three marriage rates are charted:

the rate for the entire population, the rate for

unmarried women 15 years of age and over,

and the rate for unmarried women 15 through

44 years of age. The latter is the most refined measure of the three because it relates

marriages to that part of the population where

200

1‘

Unmarried women

15-44 yeors of age

I 50

g/

--

$ 100

b

s#’..,,,

u

; ..

1- -. Unmwriad wom@n

u

,.”$+. J* ,** “;*.%,

E .. +, ‘%,V, M ycors of age and war

“..’:.? ●.4,,,*%*, ,U,W,891, ●.*,,*n9#,,,,,,,*saa, ~

o l&u&u&wJLuduLd

195s 1960 1965 1970

Figure 2. Marriage rates: United States, 19W-69

marriages are most frequent. Unmarried women

past age 44 are certainly not ineligible for

marriage, but they accounted for only about ‘7

percent of the marriages in 1967 while comprising nearly one-half of the population of unmarried women 15 and over.

Table 1 shows the annual number of marriages

and the three marriage rates mentioned above.

For most years from 1940 to 1967 the marriage

rate per 1,000 population moved in the same

direction as the number of marriages. One exception was 1953 when the number of marriages

increased less than one-half of one percent from

the preceding year and the rate decreased one

percent. Other exceptions were 1960-62 when

the number of marriages increased nearly 2

percent annually but the rate remained constan~

the number of marriages and the total population

were growing at about the same rate.

Of particular interest is the relationship

of the rate for unmarried women 15 through

44 and the rate based on the entire population.

4
For the years 1941-44, 1946-57, and 1959, the

increases in the marriage rate for unmarried

women 15 through 44 were greater than the increases in the rate for the total population,

and the decreases were smaller. In other words,

the change in the crude rate understated the

magnitude of the rises in rate for the eligible

population and overstated the decreases.

For 1945, 1958, 1960-62, and 1964-67 (mainly

years in contrast to those listed akwe when

sligibles were increasing as a proportion of the

:otal population), increases in the rate for the

:ligible population were smaller than increases

n the rate for the entire population, and de-

:reases were greater. Thus, changes in the crude

‘ate overstated increases in the rate for eli -

;ibles and understated the decreases.

It is apparent, however, that from 1940 to

967 the crude marriage rate was a reasonably

pod indicator of what was happening to the

marriageable population. In only two years, 1953

.nd 1965, did it move in a direction opposite

hat taken by the rate for unmarried women 15

hrough 44 and many of the annual changes

vere quite similar for the two rates.

tiedian Age

Until the mid-1950’s the trend in the United

States was toward earlier marriage and a narrowing of the age difference between bride and

groom at first marriage. This conclusion is

reached by a review of median ages computed

by the Bureau of the Census from estimates of

the expected proportion of young people who will

ever marry based on tabulations of marital

status by age. They differ from the median

ages based on marriage-registration data supplied

by States in the marriage-registration area

(MRA) for persons marrying during the given

years. (A discussion of the marriage-registration

area is given on p. 12). The Census series “can

be interpreted as applying to the cohort born

“n” years earlier, where “n” is the median age

at first marriage. ” 3 Consequently, they are

3

Bureau of the Census: !Jari tal Status and Family

Status, March 1968, Cllrrcnt pO/JU/C7fi07J Kcpo Jfs, hh

P. 20, No. 187, Page 6. U, S, Department of

Washington, U.S. Government Printing Office,

1969.

Commorce.

August 11,

not affected by changes in the age composition

of the population as are the median ages computed from the marriage records of marriages

performed during a given year. They are in

fact the only series of median age at marriage

available for the United States.

Data for 1890 show a median age at first

marriage of 26.1 years for males and 22.0

for females, a difference of 4.1 years between

the two.

By 1940 the median age had declined 1.8

years for males and one-half year for females

and, because the age at first marriage declined faster for males than for females, the

age difference narrowed to 2.8 years.

Between 1940 and 1950 the median age

declined an additional 1.5 years for males

and 1.2 for females, and the age difference

decreased to 2.5 years.

From 1950 to 1956 the median age at

first marriage declined three-tenths of a year

for males and two-tenths for females and

reached what so far has been an all-time

Iow median age at first marriage of 22.5

for men and 20.1 for women. The difference

between the median ages of men and women

at first marriage in 1956 was 2.4 years.

From 1956 to 1967 there was a gradual

though not continuous increase in the median

age at first marriage for both men and women,

reaching 23.1 and 20.6, respectively, in 1967,

again a difference of 2.5 years between the

two.

In other words, in 1967 men were marrying

at ages about 3 years younger and women 1.4

years younger than in 1890 but six-tenths of

a year and one-half of a year later, respectively,

than in 1956. Also, in 1967, the age difference

between bride and groom was much less than

in 1890 but slightly more than in 1956.

Median ages from registration data are available for the MRA for recent years and for 22

reporting States from 1954 to date but cannot

be assumed to describe the experience of the

United States because of the incomplete coverage

*

5
and the likelihood that the age distribution of

the population of the MRA and of the reporting

States differs from the age distribution of the

population of the non-MRA and non-reporting

States.

During the 5 years 1963-67 the median age

of males marrying in the MRA, computed from

registration data, was consistently lower than

the median age for males compttted from Census

data for the entire United States. For five years

the median age for females was also lower in

the MRA but the difference was not as great

as for males. Consequently, the MRA data for

marriages performed show median ages for brides

and grooms a little closer than is indicated by

the Census data for the ever-married population

of the United States.

Median age at first ❑arriage by sex

United States i

+

Year

Male

1967 ------ 23.1

1966 ------ 22.8

1965 ------ 22.8

1964 ------ 23.1

1963 ----- 22.8

Female

20.6

20.5

20.6

20.5

20,5

MRA

Male

22.6

22.6

22.5

22.4

22.5

Female

20.5

20.3

20.4

20.4

20.3

l“Marital Status and Family Status,

March 1968, “Current Population Repor:~,

Series P-20. No. 187. Auwst 11, ,

Table C. “

Married Population

In 1960, a larger proportion of the population of the United States was married than

ever before. This was especially true of the

young people. Between 1890 and 1940 agradual

increase was observed in the proportion married

at the younger age groups. The greatest increase

occurred during the 1940’s as a result of the

unprecedented high marriage rates ofthatperiod.

Another point of interest is that thedecennial censuses of1890through 1930showedalarger

proportion of women married than of men.

In the 1940 census a slight reversal occurred

with the proportions married very nearly equal

(61.2 percent for men and 61.0 for women).

In the 1950 and 1960 censuses the difference

widened increasingly with a larger proportion

of men married than women (table A).

At the time the 1940 census was taken,

about 27 percent of the men in age group20

to 24 were marrie&, in 1950, 40 percent were

married; in 1960, 46 percent were married.

For women in the same age group, the increase

was from 51 to 66 to 70 percent. From 1960

to 1967, the proportion married declined slightly

for men and more decidedly for women 20 to

24; it also declined for men 30 to 34 andfor

women 65 and over. Slight increases in the

proportion married were observed for the other

age groups, the most pronounced being for men

25 to 29.

In the younger age groups proportionately

more of the women than ofthe men are married

while the reverse is true in the older age

groups. In 1967, 65 percent of the women at

ages 20 to 24 were married in contrast to only

45 percent of the men. From ages 25 through

54 the difference between the sexes in the

proportion married is rather small. Although

the reversal begins at earlier ages it becomes

quite apparent for age group 55 to 64 where,

in 1967, 85 percent of the men and only67

percent of the women in the United States were

married. The difference becomes more pronounced at later ages. Nearly. three-fourths

of the men in age group 65 years andover were

married in contrast to about one-third Gf the

women.

This pattern reflects the earlier marriage

and the longer life span of women and the greater

likelihood of remarriage for men.

SEASONAL VARIATION

Marriages in this country by month of

occurrence have a distinct seasonal patterrn.4

In 1967, June, August, and September, in that

4

National Centor for Health Statistics, Vitaf S/ utis-

[ics O/ Ike ~Jnited stales, Vol. 111 for 1967, Public

Health Service, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1970,

‘I’able 1-4.

6
Table A. Percent of the population married, by age and sex: United States.

1890 to 1967 - -

(Total number of persons in each age-sex group = 100.0)

Age and sex

Women

15 years and over----

15-19

20-24

25-29

30-34

35-44

45-54

55-64

years ----------------

years ----------------

years ----------------

years ----------------

years ----------------

years ----------------

years ----------------

65 years and over----------

Men

15-19

20-24 t

25-29

30-34

35-44

45-54

55-64

15 years and over----

years ----------------

years ----------------

years----------------

years----------------

years ----------------

years ----------------

years ----------------

65 years and over----------

.

1967

---

---

65.1

86.4

89.5

87.9

82.1

67.3

36.0

---

---

45.2

82.9

85.5

88.9

89.1

85.2

72.5

1960

67.4

15.7

69.5

86.2

88.7

87.1

79.9

66.0

37.4

71.2

3.8

45.9

77.2

85.7

88.7

87.8

84.0

70.8

1950

67.0

16.7

65,6

83.3

86.2

84.3

77.6

65.0

35.7

68.9

3.1

39.9

74.2

84.3

87.0

85.7

81.4

65.7

1940

61.0

11.6

51.3

74.1

80.4

81.1

76.0

63.0

34.3

61.2

1.7

27.4

62.7

77.2

82.4

82.8

78.5

63.8

1930

61.1

12.6

51.6

74.4

81.5

81.5

75.2

62.0

34.7

60.0

1.7

28.1

61.3

76.0

81.6

81.6

78.0

63.2

1920

60.6

12.5

52.3

73.4

80.1

80.3

74.1

61.2

33.9

59.2

2.1

28.3

58.7

73.2

79.8

81.0

77.9

64.7

1910

58.9

11.3

49.7

71.8

79.0

80.1

74.8

62.2

35.0

55.8

1.2

24.0

55.5

71.4

79.2

81.5

79.0

65.7

1900

57.0

10.9

46.5

68.9

78.0

79.5

73.9

60.5

34.2

54.5

1.0

21.6

52.6

69.8

78.8

82.2

79.7

67.1

.890

56.8

9.5

46.7

71.4

79.8

80.6

73.9

60.4

35.4

53.9

0.5

18.9

52.7

71.3

80.9

84.3

82.3

70.5

Source: For 1890 to 1960, U.S. Census of Population: 1960, Final Report PC(l)-lD,

United States Summary. Bureau of the Census. U.S. Department of Commerce, Table 177;

for 1967, Current Population Reports, Series P-20, ‘No. 170, Bureau of- the Census,

U.S. Department of Commerce, Table 1.

order, werethemostpopularmonthsfor marriage.

June andAugust consistentlyrank firstandsecond,

respectively, but September held third place in

only two of the five years from 1963 through

1967; in two years July ranked third, and in

another December. The seasonal low for marriages occurs during the first part ofthe year.

January, February, and March each regularly

has fewer marriages than any of the other nine

months. For the five years under review January

had the lowest number of marriages of any

month for two years, March for two, and February for one.

Marriages during the first four months of the

year are affected by Lent, which shifts with the

date of Easter and can beginasearly as February

7 and end as late as April 25th. Marriages are

less frequent among somereligiousgroups during

Lent with upsurges just before and just after

the Lenten season.
In all regions of the country June and

August are the favored months for marriages.

December ranks much higher in the South and

West than elsewhere but rankings for other

months vary only slightly by geographic region.

The favorite month for marriage varies

by age group. Young persons prefer June. In

1967, 12 percent of teenage brides and grooms

were married in June. At the next age breakdown, 20-24, 13 percent married during June—

the highest proportion for any age group in any

month. Other months were chosen more frequently

by older couples. For brides 30-34 and grooms

45-54 more marriages took place in December

than in any other month; for brides 35-54 and

grooms 55-64 July was the month selected

most frequently (table B).

Remarriages are more evenly distributed

throughout the year and present a different

pattern by month than first marriages. In the

MRA in 1967, December accounted for more

of the remarriages than any other month (10.2

percent), and January for the least (6.5 percent).

For first marriages, June accounted for the most

(12.9 percent), and February, for the least (5.7

percent).

Over one-half of all marriages are performed

on Saturday. Consequently, the number of Saturdays in a given month influences the number

of marriages performed in that month. More

than three times as many marriages are performed on Saturday as on Friday, the next most

popular day, and more than ten times as many

as on Wednesday, the least

3). During 1967 marriages

of the week were as follows:

Day of week

Total

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

popular day (figure

in the MRA by day

Numbev of

mawiages

1,446,299

130,266

85,034

66,209

65,234

79,134

228,195

792,227

Percent

distribution

100.0

Soo

r

I

I

0hSunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Figure 3. Marriages by day of the week: Marriageregistration area, 1967

GEOGRAPHIC VARIATION

Marriage rates in the United States consistently show distinct differences by geographic

region (table 2). The West has the highest rate

followed closely by the South. The Northeast

has the lowest rate and the North Central the

second lowest. Within regions, however, there is

wide variation among States, particularly in the

West. In 1967, rates for the western States ranged

from 198.2 per 1,000 population in Nevada to

7.3 per 1,000 in Oregon. Except for the unusuallyhigh rate in Nevada and the rate of 20.1 for

Idaho, the range in rates for these States was

from 7.3 to 12.0, quite similar to the range for

the northeast States (from 7.0 to 13.4). These

differences from State to State are largely accounted for by variations in State marriage

laws and, to a lesser extent, in the age and sex

composition of the populations.

8
Table B. Percent distributionof marriages, by month marriage was performed for

brides and grooms, by age: Marriage-registrationarea, 1967

(Based on sample data)

Month of

marriage Total

AH brides----1100.0

}

January-------------

February------------

March---------------

April---------------

May-----------------

I June----------------

July----------------

August--------------

September-----------

October-------------

November------------

December------------

6.0

5.9

6.1

7.7

7.3

12.2

9.8

10.3

10.2

7.6

7.6

9.3

AH grooms---- 100.0

January------------- 6.0

February------------ 5.9

March--------------- 6.1

April--------------- 7.7

May----------------- 7.3

June---------------- 12.2

July---------------- 9.8

August-------------- 10.3

September----------- 10.2

October------------- 7.6

November------------ 7.6

December------------ 9.3

Age of bride or groom

I I I I

20-24 25-29 30-34 35-44 45-54 55-64

years years years years years years

14-19

years

Percent distribution

100. c

6.6

6.6

6.5

7.7

6.8

12.3

10.0

9.6

10.1

7.2

7.6

9.1

100.0

7.0

7.0

6.8

7.5

6.7

12.1

10.0

9.6

9.8

7.3

7.3

8.9

100.0

5.4

5.2

5.3

7.5

7.1

13.5

9.7

11.8

11.0

7.4

7.2

8.9

100.0

5.7

5.5

5:6

7.4

6.8

13.3

9.8

11.4

10.9

7.1

7.4

9.2

100.0

5.7

5.7

6.5

8.1

7.7

11.0

9.6

9.8

9.8

8.1

8.1

9.9

100.0

5.4

5.6

5.8

8.1

7.9

12.3

9.7

10.1

10.4

8.2

7.7

8.9

10000

5.5

6.3

7.5

8.4

8.8

10.1

9.1

8.9

9.4

7.5

8.1

10.6

100.0

5.8

6.1

6.6

8.2

8.0

10.3

10.0

9.2

9.8

8.1

8.0

9.9

6.8

6.5

6.8

8.C

8.3

9.9

10.1

9.1

8.1

8.4

8.3

9.9

100.0

6.9

6.4

6.9

8.1

8.4

10.3

9.9

9.1

8.6

7.6

8.0

9.9

100. c

6.6

6.6

6.2

8.4

8.1

9.3

10.2

8.4

9.7

8.7

8.5

9.4

100.0

6.2

6.1

7.2

8.0

7.8

9.3

9.8

9.1

9.0

8.9

8.7

9.9

100.(

7.:

5.4

7.:

8.f

8.?

9.2

9.(

8.;

9*5

8.7

8.9

9.2

100.0

6.1

5.9

7.1

8.8

7.5

8.6

9.9

8.6

9.1

9.5

9.1

9.6

65 years

and over

100.0

7.7

6.0

6.0

7.9

7.6

10.6

8.8

7.6

9.2

11.1

7.3

10.1

100.0

8.3

6.2

6.1

8.5

8.3

10.9

8.2

7.4

9.5

9.0

8.3

9.4

9
Rates for each region, geographic division,

and State are by place of occurrence; they relate

marriages performed in the area, whether of

residents or non-residents, to the populationof

that area. Marriages are reportedly and subject

to laws of the State where the ceremony is

performed. Leni ent marriagelaws attractcouples

from out of State, particularly if adjoining States

have more restrictive laws. A high marriage

rate for a State is generally associated with

a high proportion of marriages in which both

bride and groom live outside the State. The

major attractions are laws thatpermit marriages

at young ages without parental consent, do

not require a waiting period between the date

9.,

:?F’@

of the application for a license and issuance

of the license or between license issuance and

the ceremony, or do not require a medical

examination.

This “attractiveness” has a two-pronged

effect on the marriage rate computed by place

of occurrence. It lowers the rates of the States

from which the couples are drawn and raises the

rates of the States to whjch they are attracted.

The ten States with the highest marriage

rates @ 1967 were Nevada (198.2), Idaho (20.1),

South Carolina (19.8), Oklahoma (13.9), South

Dakota (13.5), New Hampshire (13.4), Maryland

(13.3), Georgia (12.7), Washington (12.0), and

Alabama (12.0) (figure 4). Figures are available

c1 ‘“”’”5

m“”’”’

E#%’”””

EiEa’’””””

m“”s-’d”v”’

Figure W Marriage rates: Each State, 1967

10
for all of these States except Nevada, Oklahoma,

and Washington to show that out-of-State couples

account for a very high proportion of the marriages in each State. It is known that the same

is true of Nevada, and Oklahoma and Washington

are probably not exceptions.

Review of the marriage laws in effect for

these States for most or all of 1967 reveals

provisions that were more lenient in one or

more respects than those of nearby States.

Nevada stood in a class by itself with a rate

of nearly 200 marriages per 1,000 resident

population. It reported 4.5 percent of all marriages

in the Nation in 1967 and recorded a rate almost

ten times the figure for the next highest State

(Idaho). It was the only State that required

neither a medical examination nor a waiting

period. It was also the only State where suit

for divorce could be filed after residence of

only 6 weeks, and even less under certain circumstances. In addition, the parties could remarry

immediately after final decree.

Two of the States, Idaho and South Dakota,

required no waiting period either before or after

the license was issued while some of the adjoining States did. (The Idaho law was changed

in 1967.)

Attractive provisions in the laws of the

other States with high rates were concerned

primarily with the age at which marriage could

be contracted and the age at which parental

consent was required. The laws of many States

had provisions whereby younger parties could

obtain a license under special circumstances

(such as pregnancy) but the age at which a

license could be obtained without raising the issue.

of special circumstances seemed to be a much

more important factor. South Carolina was one

of only three States that permitted men as well

as women 18 years old tQ marry without their

parents’ conser!t and was one of only four States

where women could marry as young as age 14

with parental consent. Also, men in South Carolina

could marry at age 16 if their parents agreed,

while in many States they had to be 18. Additional

attractions in South Carolina were the absence

of a requirement for a physical examination or

blood test, and a waiting period of only 24 hours.

In Alabama, females age 14 and males 17 could

marry with parental consent; the waiting period,

a requisite in neighboring States, was not required.

In Oklahoma women could marry at age 15

if they had their parents’ permission while in

neighboring Kansas they had to be 18. New

Hampshire was the only State where the law

did not specify a minimum age below which marriage could not be contracted but instead required that males below age 20 and females

below age 18 have permission of their parents

and the judge. It was also one of the few States

where men could marry at age 20 without parental

consent. in Maryland girls could marry at age

18 without parental consent while in the neighboring States of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West

Virginia consent was required. Also, in “1967

Maryland was one of only 4 States where a premarital physical examination was not required.

In Georgia men did not need parental consent to

marry unless they were under 19. Men could

marry without parental consent below age 21

in only 5 other States.

A closer look at the State marriage rates

and marriage laws would” reveal other similar

though less marked relationships between the

two. Not until every State has a central file

of marriage records and can provide records

to be tabulated on a national basis by State of

residence of the participants will it be possible

to measure the rate at which residents of a

State marry.

State marriage laws afiect not only comparisons between States for a given year but

when they are revised they affect year-to-year

changes in the marriage rate of the given State

and of adjoining States. For example, most

States experienced a gradual increase in their

marriage rate from 1963 through 1967 (table 2)

with major exceptions accounted for by legislative

changes. The decline in the marriage rate for

Idaho in 1967 followed legislation that established

a waiting period and raised the age limit for

lmth males and females. A further decline was

observed in the provisional 1968 rate for Idaho

when the effect of the law was felt for the full

year. The marriage rate for the District of

Columbia also went against the national trend

by declining in 1967; beginning January 1, 1967,

a premarital test for venereal disease was

required in the District of Columbia. in most

of these instances compensating increases were

observed in the marriage rates in adjoining

States.

11
DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS

Lack of National Data

Analysis of recent increases in marriages

in the United States is difficult because national

data beyond simple counts of events by month,

county, and State are not available. Interest

in marriage trends among men and women

at specific ages points up one of the most serious

deficiencies in our marriage statistics. A series

of age-sex-specific marriage rates for the entire

United States does not exist, even for recent

years. Such rates for the United States and each

region were published for 1960 but the nearest

to national age-sex-specific marriage rates that

have been computed and published annually are

forthemarriage-registrationarea(MRA).

Marriage-Registration Area

In 1965, 1966, and 1967 the MRA included

38 States andthe District of Columbia (figure 5).

For earlier years there were fewer States. (The

Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico are part of the

MRA but are excluded from this report.) The

MRA States are States with central files of marriage certificates and. sufficiently complete and

accurate reporting of demographic items on their

records to warrant collection, processing, and

-w

HAY

-=4

<All

P%t,c,,,,,n, t“ ,,, Mar,,,,, R.,,,,,.,,.. .ra, ,h4RA,

N.” hiRA w,h ,,.,,,! ,,,.,

N. .,”,,,, ,,,,,

I

Figure 5. Marriage-registration area, 1965-67

12
publication in the official U.S. annual reports.

We are dependent upon these States for our

knowledge about marriages in various age, race,

sex, and marital status groups in this country.

Their data, combined with data from several

States that have since or are expected soon to

be admitted to the MRA, were used as a basis

for making the national estimates by age and sex

for 1966 and 1967 presented in this report. Other

data on characteristics of marriages, relating

only to the MRA, are shown throughout the

report.

For the years 1957-1967 the marriage frequencies for the United States and for the

marriage- registration area were as follows:

Yea2-

1967

1966

1965

1964

1963

1962

1961

1960

1959

1958

1957

United

States

1,927,000

1,857,000

1,800,000

1,725,000

1,654,000

1,577,000

1,548,000

1,523,000

1,494,000

1,451,000

1,518,000

1,448,384

1,398,754

1,362,466

1.221.513

1;035;596

948,787

967.996

873;224

841,709

802,165

829,454

As the MRA data are used as national

indicators the relationship between marriage

rates in the MRA and in the non-MRA States

is of interest. Since it was first established

(1957) the MRA has consistently had a lower

marriage rate than the entire United States

but the two rates have moved in the same

direction. The rates compare as follows:

Marriage rate per 1,000 population

Year

1967 -----------

1966 -----------

1965 -----------

1964-----------

1963-----------

1962-----------

1961-----------

1960-----------

1959-----------

;;;;------------

- - -- - --- -- -

United

States MRA

8.9

;:< 8.7

9.3

%:

%: 8.0

8.5 7.7

8.5 7.7

8.5

;::

::: 7.6

8.9 8.0

A similar relationship was observed for the

age-sex-specific rates. The estimated rates for

the United States are higher than the rates for

the MRA for both brides and grooms in each

broad age group. This was true for both 1966

and 1967, and, although population data are not

available for computing rates for direct comparison, it results from the fact that marriage

rates were considerably higher inthenon-MRA

States than they were in the MRA. Nevertheless,

about 75 percent of the marriages in the United

States were performed in the MRA and their

characteristics are of national significance.

National Estimates of Marriages

by Age and Sex

The number of marriages in the United

States by age and sex for 1966 and1967 (table C)

were estimated from sample data for the 38

MRA States and the District of Columbia combined with data obtained from tabulations of 6

non-MRA States (Arkansas, Minnesota, Missouri,

South Carolina, North Dakota, and Texas). The

estimates were computed by assuming that the

age distribution of the brides and grooms marrying

in the six States where age was unknown (Arizona,

Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma, and

Washington) was the same as for brides and

grooms marrying in the 44 States and the District

of Columbia where age at marriage was known.

In 1967 the six States for which age at marriage

was unknown accounted for 206,000 marriages

or approximately 11 percent of the total 1.9

million marriages in the United States.

The national estimates for 1967 show more

marriages occurring in ages 20-24 than in any

other age group. This was true for both men

and women. In 1966 it was true only for men,

as age group 15-19 led all others in number

of marriages for women.

Men marry later in life than women. The

age distribution for brides and grooms marrying

during a year shows more brides than grooms

at the younger ages and the reverse at the

older ages. The marriage estimates for the

United States show about two and one-half times

as many women as men marrying at ages under

20. More detailed data available for the MRA

for 1967 indicate that among the very youngest,

14-17, brides oumumbered grooms by about

8 to 1. Grooms oumumbered brides in each
Table C. Estimated number of marriages, by age and sex and age-sex-specific marriage

rates for’ the unmarried population: United States, 1966 and 1967

(See text for method of computation)

15 and

over---

15-191--------

20-24---------

25-34---------

25-29-------

30-34-------

35-44---------

45-54---------

55-64---------

65 and over---

Marriages

1967 1966

Women Men Women Men

Number of marriages

1,927,000

663,000

734,000

274,000

185,000

89,000

125,000

77,000

37,000

17,000

1,927,000

285,000

856,000

449,000

320,000

129,000

158,000

92,000

52,000

35,000

1,857,000

689,000

656,000

258,000

171,000

87,000

124,000

76,000

37,000

17,000

1,857,000

299,000

795,000

431,000

307,000

124,000

154,000

91,000

52,000

35,000

Marriage rates

1967 1966

Women Men Women Men

(Der .. 1.000 unmarried

76.4

-

85.7

279.2

193.8

222.1

153.2

83.9

36.9

12.3

2.5

population)

94.2

33.0

210.7

249.2

---

---

122.8

76.5

42.0

15.7

75.6

89.0

289.1

187.8

213.7

151.6

87.4

35.2

12.4

2.6

91.1

34.5

214.6

226.0

---

---

108.5

78.7

39.9

15.7

successive age group shown in table C with

the highest ratio in age groups 25-34 and 65

and over. The marriage rates show similar

relationships except forage group20-24. Although

more men than women marriedin this agegroup,

the marriage rate was higher for women than

for men.

Marriage rates were highest at ages 20-24

years for women and 25-29 for men. (Population

data for 1966 and 1967 consistent with estimates

used for other age-groups were not available

for computing estimated national marriage rates

for unmarried men 25-29 but this statement is

supported by marriage rates available for the

MRA.) Marriage rates for men and women in

broad age groups are charted in figure 6.They

show a rapid rise at the younger ages and a

decline in the middle and older age groups.

lIncludes all marriages under age 20.

CHANGES DURING 1963-67

Modal Age

Data by single years of age for the five

years 1963-67, available only for the MRA,

show a change du~ing that period in the modal

age for women. In three of the five years

(1963-65) there were more brides at age 18

than any other age; in both 1966 and 1967

there were more at age 19, with age20 ranking

a very close second in 1967. The mostmarriages

occurred at age 21 for men in each of the five

years.

Marriages by single years ofage14 through

34 are shown in table 3 for 1965-67, the three

years during which the MRAremained unchanged.

14
300 r

o

k

/ ‘*8

*

:8

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

;

:

:

I I I I I I

15-19 20-24 25-36 35-44 45-34 55-34 65+

AGE AT MASRIAGE

Figure 6. Estimated age-sex-specific marriage rates:

Uni ted States, 1967

Age of Bride by Age of Groom

Median ages at first marriage of both brides

and grooms by specified age of partner are

shown in table 4 for the MRA, 1963-67. The

gap between the age of the groom and the age

of the bride in first marriages narrowed during

this period. In 1967, women at specified ages

generally were marrying men with lower median

ages than in 1963, while the reverse was true

for men.

For example, this difference was apparent

for women in their teens who married men with

a wider disparity in age than women in their

twenties. In 1963, 18-year-old women married

men who weqe, on the average, 3 years older

than themselves; in 1967, the median age of

the groom declined to 20.5, or an average

difference of 2.5 years. This relationship probably

reflected the availability of young men 2 and 3

years older than the 18-year-old women in the

respective years. In 1967 there was a greater

deficit of men 21 years of age relative to women

18 than in 1963. The relative number of men

and women at specific ages is undoubtedly a

factor in other age combinations as well. 5

There was no substantial change for women

at ages 20, 21, and 22 who married men about

2 years their senior throughout the 5-year

period. In general, after age 22 and up to age

30 the gap between the age of the husband and

the age of the wife was slightly less in 1967

than in 1963. In reverse, the median age of

women marrying men of specified ages generally

increased slightly from. 1963 to 1967, showing

the same lessening of the age gap between

partners.

The age range between bride and groom

was, on the whole, relatively narrow when both

partners were marrying for the first time. In

cases where one or lmth partners were remarrying there was wider separation of ages.

Age-Sex-Specific Rates

Marriage rates relating marriages performed in the MRA to the unmarried resident

population of the MRA for 1963 through 1967

are shown in table 5. Although the MRA changed

composition during the five years (Illinois and

North Carolina were added in 1964, and West

Virginia and New York City in 1965), it remained stabIe enough to give some indication

of the movement of age-sex-specific marriage

rates for those years.

The rates for the MRA showed several

changes during the 5 years 1963-67 (figure 7).

In 1967 the marriage rate was noticeably down

for single women under 20 years of age but

up slightly for single men at the same ages.

Of particular interest are the rates for the

18- and 19-year-old population.

Although the number of brides 18-19 increased due to the growth in the number of

5

National Center for Health St atislics: Marrisgc Natistics .kdysis, Unitd St atw, 1963. }’zlaf ,Z,iJ [/e(TIt/,

S/ atislics. PIIS, Pub. No. lMIO-Series 2 I-No. 16. pu~lic

Health ser~ice. Washingbn, U.S. Govcrnmerrt Printing

off ice, September 1968, pp. 11-15!.

15
MEN

300 r

Wo MEN

300

r

t

z

w

z

o

% 200 —

~

5

0

0

0_“

K

u

CL

u

$ 100 —

E

24. I 26.1

0

14-17

2497

230.J?T

!75.7

m-m

16-[9

AGE IN YEARS

1.1 1.1

65 md

over

t

I

I

L- 3.02.7

0

14-17

71.3673

B

,,:.,,,,,

::f:j

..:

,,. ,,.,,

.,,

,,

,, :,

.,

:.,.,

:,:, ,,,

:,,,,~,:w

16-19

164.3!!!!i

14.412,7

20-24 25-44 4S-64 65 and

over

AGE IN YEARS

Figure 7, Age-sex-specificfirstmarriagerates:Msrriage-registration area, 1963and 1967

young women at these ages, the increase in

the number of marriages did not keep up with

the population gains for this group. The marriage

rate for single women 18-19 declined from 176

per 1,000 in 1963 to 153 in 1967. The marriage

rate for women under 18 also decreased but

to a lesser degree.

For single men 18-19, however, the marriage

rate increased from 67 per 1,000 in 1963 to

73 in 1966, and then dropped slightly to 71

in 1967. For this group the population increase

for men was similar to that for women but

the increase in marriages was greater than for

women. The marriage rate for males under 18

increased but few men marry at these young

ages.

For age group 20-24 an upward fluctuation

occurred in the marriage rate for single men in

1965 while a dip was recorded for single women.

/

A reduction in the rate mccurred for both sexes

in 1967 but was more decided for women than

for men.

At ages 25 and over, first-marriage rates

increased generally from 1963 to 1967, slightly

more for women than for men (table D). For

age group 25-44 the increase was 13 percent

for women and 11 percent for men. For age

group 45-64 the increase was 18 percent for

women and 13 percent for men. The firstmarriage rate for the age group 65-and-over

showed little change for either sex.

The remarriage rate was greater in 1967

than in 1963 for both men and women in all

age groups except the 65 and over. The increase

was much greater for men than for women,

especially for the groups 14-24 and 45-64 years

of age.

16
Table D. Percent differences in age-sexSpecific marriage rates between 1963

and 1967: Marriage-registration area

(Based on sample data)

Percent difference

between 1963 and

Marriage order 1967 marriage rate

an/i age

Women

All marriages

14 and over-- +3.7

14-17 years -------- -8.9

18-19 years -------- -:;.:

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

25-44 years -------- +9:1

45-64 years -------- +4.7

65 years and over--

First marriages

14 and over-- +3.9

14-17 years -------- -7.7

18-19 years -------- -12.7

20-24 yeara -------- -7.7

25-44 years -------- +13.0

45-64 years -------- +17.9

65 years and over--

Remarriages

14 and over-- +3.6

14-24 years -------- +5.1

25-44 years -------- +7.0

45-64 years -------- +1.3

65 years and over--

Men

+6.8

+7.1

+5.4

-2.1

+11.2

+15.5

-6.0

+6.6

+11.1

+5.9

-2.5

+ll.l

+13.4

+2.7

+11.1

+51.7

+9.3

+13 .5

-8.0

FIRST MARRIAGES AND

REMARRIAGES

Participants in the MRA provide marriage

data for computing rates for first marriages

and remarriages separately for both men and

women, These rates relate marriages of the

never-married to the never-married population

and marriages of the previously married to the

widowed and divorced population. For the MRA

excluding Michigan and Ohio marriage rates

can be computed for the widowed and divorced

separately.

About 80 percent of the men and women

marrying in the MRA in 1967 were marrying

for the first time, the remainder for a second

time or more. Marriage rates were higher for

single women than for single men at the younger

ages but lower at the older ages. Of the age

groups shown in table 5 the excess of the rate

for females over the rate for males was greatest

for ages 14-17 years and declined with each

successive age group through ages 20-24, The

first-marriage rate was higher for men than

for women in age group 25-44 and the difference

became progressively greater for the 45-64

and 65-and-over groups.

Remarriage rates both for the widowed and

the divorced and for men and women decline

with increasing age. In 1967 about one-half of

the divorced population at ages 14-24 married

again. At ages 25-44 and later remarriage rates

declined and about twice as fast for women as

for men.

Remarriage rates are much higher for men

than for women. This is trueof both the divorced

and the widowed in all age groups. Marriage

rates of the widowed in 1967 indicated that men

were nearly 4 times more likely to remarry

than women. Marriage rates for the divorced

show men remarrying at a rate a little over

one and one-half times the rate for women.

The greater likelihood of remarriage for men

than for women increased with increasing age.

The ratio of the remarriage rates for men to

those for women in the MRA in 1967 was as

follows:

Age group Widowed Divorced

(years)

14 and over -- 3.7

)

14-24 ____”_ -

3.0 2!

25-44 1.8

45-64 ------- 4*3 2.5

65 and over-- 7.6 3.4

Remarriages accounted for a larger proportion of the marriages of white persons than

of those for the all other group. About 24 percent of the white brides and 18 percent of all

other brides had ken married before. Similarly, it was a remarriage for 24 percent of

17
the white grooms and 20 percent for all other

grooms.

Persons marrying in the MRA in 1967

who stated their previous marital status to be

“divorced” were relatively more frequent among

white brides and grooms than they were among

those of other races. The “widowed” were more

frequent among white brides and less frequent

among white grooms than they were among all

other brides and grooms but the differences

were very slight (table E).

White brides and grooms, on the average,

are younger than all other brides and- grooms.

This was true in 1967 both for persons marrying for the first time and for those who were

remarrying (figure 8). For the remarriages,

however, this was true only for divorced persons

remarrying; the previously widowed were an exception. For the widowed remarrying, white

brides and grooms tended to be older than those

of other races.

Previous marital status and age of bride

and groom by color are shown in table 6 for

the MRA in 1967. The proportion of first marriages

occurring at the peak ages 18-24 was higher

for white persons than for all others, with

relatively more of the marriages of all others

in the age interval under 18 and over 25 years.

White single persons married at ages averaging

less than one-half year younger than all other

single persons.

There is less similarity in age by color

for remarriages than for first marriages. Among

the previously divorced persons who remarried

in 1967, white persons averaged,4 years younger

than all other persons, ln addition, for this

Table E. Marriages by color of bride and groom, by previous marital status: Marriageregistration area, 1967

(Based on sample data)

Sex and previous

marital status

Brides

All marri.agesq ---------

Single -----------------------

Vlidowed ----------------------

Divorced ---------------------

Grooms

All marriages2 ---------

Single------------------------

Widowed----------------------

Divorced ---------------------

Number of marriages

Total~ White All

other

==I@=@=

9~2 ,749 616,480 90,328

68,836 47,356 5,806

213,833 147,883 14,252

983,004 619,012 89,126

60,125 38,539 6,284

223,723 154,045 16,031

Percent distribution

All

Totall White other

100.0 100 ~o 100.0

Ju: 77.7 75.9 8i.8

5.4 5.8 5.3

16.9 18.2 12.9

100.0 10000 100.0

77.6 76.3 80.0

4.7 4.7 5.6

17.7 19.0 14.4

lIncludes marriages in States not reporting color (California, New York, and parts

of Illinois}.

<

?Excludes -marriages in Michigan and Ohio and marriages for which previous marital

status was not stated.

18
EZu.derxyearSm25.44yew,m.,yeor.mdover

1-

Z

Ea

w

a

100

80

60

40

20

0 I

FIRST MARRIAGES

8RIOE GROOM

n

3.0

28.6

White AlI white All

other other

REMARRIAGES

BRIOE GROOM

L

61.6

9.7

All

!55.0

10.6

whiteu

53.3

4.0

All

other other

.:igure 8, Percent distribution of first marriages and remarriages by age of bride and groom, by color: Marriageregistration area, 1967

group, the proportion of white brides and grooms

under 25 years was twice that for all others.

Among the previously widowed who remarried,

however, white persons averaged about 3 years

older than those of other races. In 1967, 35

percent of the remarriages of previously widowed

white women occurred at ages under 45 as compared with 45 percent of those for all other wom~n.

Contributing to this difference. were the higher

mortality rates for other races, resulting in

earlier widowhood and consequent earlier remarriage. Median ages by color and previous

marital status of brides and grooms marrying

in the MlL4 in 1967 were:

Marital Brides Grooms

status prior

to this

marriage White ~:::r White *:::r

Single -------

lJidowed ------

Di.vorced -----

20.3 20.6 22.4 22.8

50.2 47.1 58.1 55.8

30.5 34.5 34.9 38.1

INTERRACIAL MARRIAGES

An area of growing interest in marriage

statistics is interracial marriage, especially

Negro-white marriages. Some data on interracial marriages are available from MRA States

with race on their marriage certificates. In

1967, however, marriages in the 35 reporting

States for which race was stated represented

only about 50 percent of all marriages occurring

in the United States. This lack of complete

national statistics on interracial marriages is

due mainly to three circumstances: (1) three

States do not collect in a central location marriage records from counties and other local

areas and, consequently, are unable to provide

statistics; (2) some States do not have the race

item on their marriage certificate; and (3) some

States with the race item on their certificate

do not enforce reporting.

We are not certain how representative the

reporting States are of the non-reporting States

where interracial marriages are concerned, nor

how representative the “stated” cases are of

19
the “not-stated” cases except to know that Negrowhite marriages axe undoubtedly underrepressented. They are known to occur more frequently

in some non-reporting States than in reporting

States. Since race of bride and groom is tabulated according to the way it was stated on

the marriage record, the number of interracial

marriages would also be affected by the number

of persons who misstated their race.

The data available for the period 1963-67

show less than 1 percent of the marriages to

be between Negro-white, white-other, or Negroother races. In this report, the category “other

races” includes all races and national. origins

except white and Negro, e.g., Japanese, Chinese,

Filipinos, American Indians, Hawaiians, and Eskimos. Interracial marriages between races in the

“other” category have not been separately identified from marriages between parmers of the

same “other” race and are not included in the

interracial marriages (table 7).

In marriages between white and “other

races, ” the groom was more often the white

partner while in white-Negro marriages it was

more often a white woman who married a Negro

man. In 1967, in marriages for which race

was stated, race of bride cross-tabulated by

race of groom was as follows:

Race of groom

Race of bride

Total White Negro Other

races

Total----- 932,091 819,025 106,782 6,284

White----------- 820,020 816,869 1,772

Negro----------- 105,399 1>3:; 447 104,890

Other racea----- 6,672 1,709 120 4,843

Of the 5,489 interracial marriages in the

MRA (interracial marriages in which at least

one parmer was Negro or white), about 25 percent occurred in Hawaii. In Hawaii, where these

marriages accounted for about 20 percent of

the marriages occurring there, they were predominantly between persons of white and “otfier

races. ” The same was true in Alaska, where

they accounted for 10 percent of total marriages,

and in South Dakota, Montana, North Carolina,

and Oregon, where they comprised 2 percent

or less of all marriages. In Connecticut, the

District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, a

majority of the interracial marriages were between the Negro and white races. Even so,

Negro- white marriages accounted for more than

one percent of total marriages only in the District

of Columbia, where they comprised two percent

of the total.

There is some evidence that persons who

marry across racial lines differ in such characteristics as age and previous marital status

from persons who marry within their own race.

In the reporting MRA States in 1967, brides

and grooms marrying interracially were older

than brides and grooms marrying within their

race (table F). This was true for both the white

and the Negro-and-other groups. The bride was

under 20 years of age in over one-third of the

marriages involving white and Negro-and-other

brides marrying partners of their own race

but in less than one-fourth of the instances

in which the bride married interracially. Sim -

ilarly, relatively fewer grooms, both white and

Negro-and-other, were under 25 in the interracial marriages. A larger proportion of both

brides and grooms in mixed marriages than

in unmixed were in ages 25-44.

Relatively more of the Negro-and-other

brides and grooms marrying interracially than

of those marrying within their race were from

the divorced population. The difference was more

pronounced for brides than for grooms (21

versus 13 percent for brides and 16 versus 14

percent for grooms). Relatively fewer were

from the widowed population.

White brides and grooms marrying interracially also were a little less apt to have been

previously widowed than those marrying intraracially, but little or no difference was noted

between interracial and intraracial marriages

in the proportions of white brides and grooms

from the divorced population (table G).

20
,kableF. Percent distributionof intraracialand interracialmarriages, by age of

bride and groom: Marriage-registrationarea, 1967

(Based on sample data)

Intraracialmarriages Interracialmarriages

Age Bride Groom Bride Groom

White O:;:r White All White O;;;r other White O:;:r

Under

20-24

25-44

All marriagesl--------- 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.CI 100.() 100.0 100.() 100.0

20 years--------------- 35.0 35.9 14.9 15.5 23.0 22.4 8.8 9.2

years------------------ 38.6 31.6 45.6 40.1 44.1 41.9 40.9 35.2

years------------------ 19.4 25.8 30.3 33.2 29.4 31.4 43.3 49.4

45 years and over------------ 6.9 6.8 9.1 3.5 4.3 7.0 6.2

lExcludesmarriages for which race of bride and groom was not stated.

Table G. Percent distribution of intraracialand interracialmarriages, by previous

marital status of bride and groom: Marriage-registrationarea, 1967

(Based on sample data)

I 1

I

Intraracialcouples I

Interracialcouples

~evious marital status Bride Groom Bride

White O:;:r White 0:::= White O:;:r

All marriagesl---------- 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100*o

Single------------------------ 75.9 82.0 76,3 80.0 79.7 75.4

Previouslymarried------------ 24.1 18.0 23.7 20.0 20.3 24.6

Widowed--------------------- 5.8 5.3 408 5*7 2.1 4.0

Divorced-------------------- 18.2 12.8 19.0 14.3 18.2 20.6

lExcludes marriages for which race and/or previous marital status

groom were not stated.

1

77.1 80.3

23.0 19.7

3.3 3.6

19.7 16.1

of bride and

21
LIST OF DETAILED -.m.--

Table 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

Estimated number of marriages and marriage rates with percent changes from preceding year: United States, 1940-1970-------------------------------------------

Marriages and marriage ’rates: United States, each

1963-67 .

region, division, and State,

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

Number of marriagea by single years of age, 14-34, for wokm and men: Marriageregistration area, 1965-67------------------------........--------........------

Median age of groom by specified age of bride and median age of bride by specified age OI?groom at first marriage of both: Marriage-registration area, 1963-67

Age-sex.specific marriage rates, by previous marital status: Marriage-registration area, 1963-67--------------------------------------------------------------

Percent distribution of marriages, by age of bride and groom, color,and previous

marital status: Marriage-registration area, 1967................----------------

Number and’percent distributionof msrriagesbyrace of partner: reporting States,

1963-67------------------------------------------------------------------------.

Page

23

24

26

27

28

30

31

I

22
Table 1. Estimatednumber of marriages ad marriagerates with percentchanges from preceding

year: United States,1940-1970

Year

19701--------------------

1969---------------------

1968---------------------

1967---------------------

1966---------------------

1965---------------------

1964---------------------

1963---------------------

1962---------------------

1961---------------------

1960---------------------

1959---------------------

1958---------------------

1957---------------------

1956---------------------

1955---------------------

1954---------------------

1953---------------------

1952---------------------

1951---------------------

1950---------------------

1949---------------------

1948---------------------

1947---------------------

1946---------------------

1945---------------------

1944---------------------

1943---------------------

1942---------------------

1941---------------------

1940---------------------

provisional data

Total Marriages

Number

2,179,000

2,145,000

2,069,000

1,927,000

1,857,000

1,800,000

1,725,000

1,654,000

1,577,000

1,548,000

1,523,000

1,494,000

1,451,000

1,518,000

1,585,000

1,531,000

1,490,000

1,546,000

1,539,000

1,595,000

1,667,000

1,580,000

1,811,000

1,992,000

2,291,000

1,613,000

1,452,000

1,577,000

1,772,000

1,696,000

1,596,000

?ercent

:hange

+1.6

+3.7

+7.4

+3.8

+3.2

+4.3

+4.3

+4.9

i-l.9

+1.6

+1.9

+3.0

-4.4

-4.2

+3.5

+2.8

-3.6;

+0.4

-3.5

-4.4

+5.5

-12.8

-9.1

-13.1

*2. o

+11.1

-7.9

-11.0

+4.5

6.3

...!

Marriagerate

for the total

population

Rate

10.7

10.6

10.4

9.7

9.5

9.3

9.0

8.8

8.5

8.5

8.5

8.5

8.4

8.9

9.5

9.3

9.2

9.8

9.9 ~

10.4

11.1

10.6

12.4

13.9

16.4

12.2

10.9

11.7

13.2

12.7

12.1

Percent

change

+0.9

+1.9

+7.2

+2.1

+2.2

+3.3

-1-2.3

+3.5

+1.2

-5.6

-6.3

+2.2

+1.1

-6.1

-1.0

-4.8

-6.3

+4.7

-14.5

-10.8

-15.2

i-34.4

+11.9

-6.8

-11.4

+3.9

+5.0

...

Marriagerate for

unmarriedwomen

15 years and

wer

Rate

. . .

80.0

79.1

76.4

75.6

75.0

74.6

73.4

71.2

72.2

73.5

73.6

72.0

78.0

82.4

80.9

79.8

83.7

83.2

86.6

90.2

86.7

98.5

106.2

118.1

83.6

76.5

83.0

93.0

88.5

82.8 ,

Percent

~hange

---

+1. 1

+3.5

+1.1

+0.8

+0.5

+1.6

+3.1

-1.4

-1.8

-0.1

i-2.2

-7.7

-5.3

+1.9

+1.4

-4.;

+0.6

-3.9

-4.0

+4.o

-12.0

-7.3

-10.1

+41.3

+9.3

-7.8

-10.8

+5.1

+6.9

...

15-44years

I

Rate I

Percent

change

1

---

149● 1

147;2

145.2

14501

144.:

146.2

143.3

138.4

145.4

148.0

149.8

146.3

157.4

165.6

161.1

154.3

163.3

159.9

164.9

166.4

158.0

174.7

182.7

199.0

138.2

124.5

133.5

147.6

138.4

127.4

---

+1.3

+1.4

+0.1

+0.6

-1.3

+2.0

+3.5

-4.8

-1.8

-1.2

+2.4

-7.1

-5.0

+2.8

+4.4

-5.5

+2.1

-3.0

-0.9

i-5.3

-9.6

-4.4

-8.2

+44.o

+11.o

-6.7

-9.6

+6.6

+8.6

...

23
Table 2. Marriages and marriage rates: United States, each region, division, and State, 1963-67 I

(By place of occurrence. Data are counts of marriages performed supplied by States except as noted. Rates per 1,000

population in each area)

Number Rate

Region, division

and State —.

1966 1963

.,857,294

354,032

482,319

652,881

368,062

89,266

264,766

347,019

135,300

320,487

133,289

199,105

167,210

200,852

8,983

8,909

3,860

40,044

6,122

21,348

136,463

46,966

81,337

80,794

51,227

102,622

83,903

28,473

26,566

21,130

42>597

4,740

8,517

12>390

19,360

1967 1965 1964 1963 1967 1966 1965 1964

United Statesl- 1,927,023 1,800,207

346,537

670,368

636,049

347,253

86,520

260,017

339,349

131,019

311,711

132,092

192,246

157,938

189,315

8,726

8,988

3,646

37,886

6,321

20,953

133,549

46,281

80,187

78,982

49,732

100,978

81,247

28,410

26,472

20,247

40,169

4,939

8,317

12,069

18,806

.,724,697 .,654,003 9.7 9.5 9.3 9.0 8.8

Region

Northeast------------

North Central--------

south----------------

West’----------------

339,105

447,378

1609,779

328,435

82,031

257,074

319,959

127,419

300,344

124,250

1185,185

149,289

179,146

8,269

8,461

3,303

35,840

6,103

20,055

134,782

45,632

76,660

74,979

47,066

97,171

73,911

26,832

25,453

20,232

238,803

4,675

8,055

11,920

18,281

323,808

428,323

588,102

313,770

79,148

244,660

304,925

123,398

287,500

120,055

L80,547

143,499

170,271

8,121

8,151

3,253

34,320

5,967

19,336

129,283

43,353

72,024

71,675

45,992

93,42C

68,16C

25,678

25,064

19,487

37,667

4,531

7,47C

11,711

17,46f

7.7

9.0

11.1

11.5

8.2

7.5

9.1

8,9

11,3

10.5

11.0

21.3

8.4

9.4

13.4

9.3

7.6

7.3

7.7

7.9

7.0

7.3

7.9

10.5

9.7

9.8

7.3

7.8

8.1

9.6

7.9

13.5

9.1

8.8

7.4

8.9

ho. 7

11.3

8.0

7.2

9.0

8.5

11.0

10.3

10.6

21.4

8.1

9.1

13.1

9.5

7.4

6.8

7.4

7.5

6.8

7.0

7.8

10,4

9,6

10.0

6.8

7.4

7.7

9.4

7.~

12.5

8.5

8.6

7.3

8.7

10.6

10.9

7,8

7.1

8,9

8,3

10.8

10.3

10.4

20.5

7.8

8.8

13.4

9.0

7,1

7.1

7.4

7.4

6.8

6.9

7.7

10.2

9.5

9.8

6.9

7,4

7.3

8.9

7.6

12.1

8.3

8.4

7.2

8.3

110,3

10.4

7.4

7.1

8.5

8.1

10,6

9.8

11O.1

19.6

7.5

8,4

12.8

8,3

6.8

6.9

7.2

7.5

6.8

6.7

7.4

9.7

9.2

9.1

6.5

7.2

7.?

*8.I

7.2

11,5

8.1

8.Z

7.0

8.1

10.1

10,2

370,768

497,714

679,416

379,125

92,855

277,913

355,871

141,843

333,827

135,824

209,765

166,283

212,842

9,210

9,22L

3,886

41,431

6,536

22,571

143,273

49,132

85,508

82,991

52,798

105,295

84,363

30,424

28,156

22,396

44,055

4,990

9,051

13,161

20,034

Northeast

New England----------

Middle Atlantic------

7.2

6.9

North Central

East North Central---

Wegt North Central---

8.2

7.9

South

South Atlantic-------

East South Central---

West South Central---

10.4

9.6

10.0

West

Mountainl------------

Pacific--------------

19.1

7.3

New England

Maine----------------

New Hampshire--------

Vermont--------------

Massachusetts--------

Rhode Island---------

Connecticut----------

8.2

12.6

8.2

6,5

6.8

7.1

Middle Atlantic

New York-------------

New Jersey-----------

Pennsylvania---------

7,3

6.6

6.3

East North Central

Ohio-----------------

Indiana--------------

Illinois -------------

Michigan-------------

Wisconsin------------

7.2

9.6

9.0

8.5

6.3

West North Central

Minnesota------------

Iowa-----------------

Missouri-------------

North Dakota---------

South Dakota---------

Nebraska-------------

Kansas---------------

7.1

7.1

8.5

7.0

10.6

8.0

7.9

1

~Data are estimated.

Marriage licenses issued.

24
Table 2. Marriagea and marriage ratea: United Statea, each region, division, and States, 1963-67—coII.

(By place of occurrence. Data are counts of marriages performed supplied by States except aa noted. Rates per 1,000

population in each area)

Region, division

and State

South Atlantic

Delaware-------------

Maryland-------------

District of ColumbiaVirginia-------------

West Virginia--------

North Carolina-------

South Carolina-------

Georgia --------------

Florida--------------

East South Central

Kentucky ------------

Tennessee------------

Alabama--------------

Mississippi----------

West South Central

Arkansan-------------

Louisiana------------

Oklahoma-------------

Texan----------------

Mountain

Montana-------------

Idaho........----.-.-

Wyolning--------------

Colorado2------------

New Mexico-----------

Arizona--------------

Utah-----------------

Nevada---------------

Pacific

Washington-----------

Oregon---------------

California-----------

Alaska---------------

Hawaii---------------

1967

3,386

48,894

7,593

48,653

14,327

45,145

52,153

57,218

56,458

29,408

40,438

42,443

23,535

20,475

31,661

35,057

122,572

5,563

14,108

3,688

21,836

19,739

14,703

10,220

286,426

38,477

14,401

150,000

2,619

7,345

1966

3,16C

46,925

9,355

46,819

14,008

43,482

49,811

54,502

52,425

28,402

39,679

41,732

23,476

20,485

30,694

33,786

114,140

4,914

17,129

3,696

19,849

112,165

13,499

9,623

:86,335

234,567

13,981

144,086

2,426

5,792

Number

1965

3,105

47,345

9,182

45,976

14,164

40,667

46,336

55,537

49,399

28,340

40,054

40,355

23,343

19,158

28,972

32,574

111,542

4,688

15,864

3,608

18,690

*’213,215

12,113

8,736

281,024

231,509

13,252

136,090

2,393

6,071

1964

2,918

45,331

8,814

43,504

13,879

36,790

44,204

60,228

44,676

27,353

36,874

37,239

22,784

120,359

27,086

31,112

106,628

4,556

14,360

3,607

18,393

%2,238

111,716

8,525

75,894

229,777

12,297

129,104

2,178

5,790

1963

2,890

41,346

29,577

42,085

13,760

35,450

42,469

56,803

43,120

27,121

35,243

35,551

22,140

20,553

26,013

31,082

102,899

4,854

12,680

3,396

117,677

11,976

11,420

8,263

73,233

229,320

11,786

121,359

2,056

5,750

1967

6.5

13.:

9.4

10.7

7.9

8.9

19.E

12.7

9.4

9.2

10.j

12.C

10.0

10.6

8.6

13.9

11.3

8,0

20.1

11.6

10.9

19.7

9.0

10.0

1198.2

12.0

7.3

7.9

9.7

9.7

1966

6.2

13.0

11.6

10.4

7.8

8.7

19.3

12.2

8:8

8.9

10.2

11.9

10.1

10.5

8.5

13.7

10.6

7.0

24.7

11.2

10.0

111.9

8.3

9.5

‘190.2

211.6

7.2

7.6

8.9

8.1

Rate

1965

6.;

13./

11.L

10.4

7.t

8.:

18.;

12.6

8.:

8.S

10.4

11.6

10.1

9.9

8.1

13.3

10.5

6.7

22.9

10.9

9.6

“h3.o

7.7

8.8

%86. 7

%0. 6

6.8

7.4

9.0

8.6

1964

5.9

13.2

11.1

10.C

7.6

7.6

17.5

14.0

7.9

8.7

9.7

10.9

9.9

ho. 5

7.8

12.6

10.3

6.5

20.9

10.7

9.5

l.?~z.l

17.6

8.8

181.1

210.0

6.5

7.1

8.7

8.2

!963

6.0

12.3

h2. 1

9.8

7.6

7.4

17.0

13.5

7.8

8.7

9.4

10.5

9.7

10.8

7.6

12.7

10.0

6.9

18.4

10.1

19.2

12.1

7.5

8.5

187.3

29.9

6.4

6.9

8.4

8.4

lData are eatimsted.

2Merriage licenses issued.

.

25
f

Table 3. Number of marriages by single yeare of age, 14-34, for women and men: Marriage-registration area, 1965-67

Age

14 years----------------------

15 years----------------------

16 years----------------------

17 years----------------------

18 years----------------------

19 years----------------------

20 years----------------------

21 years----------------------

22 years----------------------

23 years----------------------

24 years----------------------

25 years----------------------

26 years----------------------

27 years----------------------

28 years----------------------

29 years----------------------

30 years----------------------

31 years----------------------

32 years----------------------

33 years----------------------

34 years----------------------

(Based on sample data)

I

Number of marriages

1,754

9,227

47,571

80,448

165,291

180,987

180,658

138,452

105,739

75,483

61,046

42,745

31,590

25,829

21,787

18,238

16,019

14,372

13,136

11,601

11,242

1,871

9,499

49,476

81,158

176,301

187,988

134,788

128,568

104,336

81,829

54,831

38,508

29,216

24,650

20,028

18,844

16,223

13,863

12,095

12,206

11,234

1,944

9,760

50,506

86,240

192,052

149,735

132,239

132,911

109,155

71,955

47,763

35,484

27,912

23,211

19,534

17,364

14,422

13,144

12,722

11,977

11,608

10

124

2,501

15,596

72,888

113,904

139,947

145,271

137,099

118,963

104,140

77,114

56,839

44,675

35,274

31,403

24,694

21,364

19,057

15,949

16,118

Men

=

20

73

2,558

15,742

76,893

122,326

109,709

142,171

133,414

123,307

93,380

70,406

53,861

44,376

36,564

29,042

23,603

21,429

18,620

16,179

15,632

30

85

2,412

15,050

71,725

97,839

126,882

153,924

144,787

107,604

80,612

64,023

52,416

42,023

33,415

28,104

24,008

20,317

17,801

16,515

15,270

26
Table 4. Median age of groom by spectfied age of bride and median age of bride by specified age

of groom at first marriage of both: Marriage-registration area, 1963-67

(Based on sample data)

Specified age

Brides

All ages--------------------------------

Under 18 years--------------------------------

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

years--------------------------------------

years--------------------------------------

years--------------------------------------

years--------------------------------------

years--------------------------------------

years--------------------------------------

years--------------------------------------

years--------------------------------------

years--------------------------------------

years--------------------------------------

years--------------------------------------

years--------------------------------------

30-34 years-----------------------------------

35-44 years-----------------------------------

45-54 years-----------------------------------

55-64 years-----------------------------------

65 years and over-----------------------------

Grooms

All ages--------------------------------

Under 18 years--------------------------------

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

years--------------------------------------

years--------------------------------------

years--------------------------------------

years--------------------------------------

years--------------------------------------

years--------------------------------------

years--------------------------------------

years--------------------------------------

years--------------------------------------

years--------------------------------------

years--------------------------------------

years--------------------------------------

30-34 years-----------------------------------

35-44 years-----------------------------------

45-54 years-----------------------------------

55-64 years-----------------------------------

65 years and over-----------------------------

1967 1966 1965 1964 1963

Median age of groom

22.3

19.8

20.5

21.3

22.1

22.9

23.8

24.7

25.6

26.5

27.4

28.5

29.4

29.7

32.9

39.3

48.0

60.0

65+

20.3

17.5

18.2

18.7

19.4

20.0

20.6

21.1

21.6

22.1

22,6

23.2

23.5

24.1

25.3

29.8

39.2

49.5

57.4

22.3

19.7

20.5

21.4

22.3

23.1

23.8

24.6

25.6

26.6

27.5

28.1

28.9

30.5

32.6

39.0

49.3

60.4

65+

Medi*

20.1

17.3

18.2

18.7

19.2

19.8

20.6

21.2

21.6

22.1

22.6

23.0

23.4

24.0

25.1

29.7

39.7

49.4

57.4

22.2

20.0

20.7

21.4

22.2

22.9

23.7

24.7

25.6

26.8

27.8

28.3

29.6

30.2

32.9

39.5

49.1

60.6

65+

age of bride

20.1

17.7

18.1

18,6

19.0

19.7

20.6

21,2

21.6

22.1

22.4

22.8

23.4

23.7

25,2

29.9

40.0

46.9

59.4

22.1

20.1

21,0

21.5

22.0

22.8

23.7

24.7

25.7

26.7

27.7

28.7

29.3

30.2

33.2

39.7

49.9

61.8

65+

20.2

17.2

17.8

18.5

19.1

19.8

20.6

21.1

21.5

21.9

22.2

22.6

23.2

23.6

25.0

30.0

40.2

48,2

59.3

22.2

20.0

21.0

21.5

22.2

22,9

23.7

24.8

25.9

26.8

28.2

28.7

29.4

30.9

32.5

39.6

51.4

60.0

65+

20.1

17.2

17.9

18.5

19.2

19.7

20.4

21.0

21.3

21.7

22.1

22.5

23.3

23.8

25.0

30.4

40.0

49,5

55.1

27
Table 5. Age-sex-specific marriage rates, by previous ~ar~tal status: Marriage-registration

area, 1963-67

(Based on sample data. Rates per 1,000 population in specified group. Rates for all marriages

are based on unmarried population, those for first marriages on single population, and those

for remarriages on widowed and divorced population)

Previous marital status and age

Women

All marriagesl--------------------------

14-17 years------------------------------------

18-19 years-----------------------------------

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

25-44 years-----------------------.-------.---

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

30-34 yeara---------------------------------

35-44 years---------------------------------

45-64 years-----------------------------------

65 years and over-----------------------------

Firat marriages-------------------------

14-17 years-----------------------------------

18-19 years-----------------------------------

20-24 yeara-----------------------------------

25-44 years-----------------------------------

45-64 years-----------------------------------

65 years and over-----------------------------

All remarriages2------------------------

14-24 years-----------------------------------

25-44 years-----------------------------------

45-64 years-----------------------------------

65 yeara and over-----------------------------

Widowed3--------------------------------

14-44 years-----------------------------------

45-64 years-----------------------------------

65 years and over-----------------------------

Divorced3-------------------------------

14-24 years-----------------------------------

25-44 years-----------------------------------

45-64 years----------------------------------

65 years and over-----------------------------

1967

64.0

24.5

157.3

243.9

121.8

197.2

133.8

74.7

20.2

2.2

85.2

24.1

153.4

230.5

95,8

9.9

1.1

34.2

490.9

149.4

23.2

2.3

10.1

72.1

16,2

2.1

129,8

515.4

187,4

42.4

7.6

1966

63.9

25.5

163.0

261.6

122.7

189.4

135.0

78,7

20.0

2.3

85.0

25.1

158.9

247.9

92.8

9.7

1.0

34,2

473,3

156.7

23,4

2.4

10.0

77.8

15,7

2,1

130.0

492.7

190.7

43.2

10.2

1965

63.6

27.1

171.5

256.9

118.6

190.6

139.8

73.6

20.2

2.3

84.6

26.5

166.5

242.8

94,4

9.1

1.3

33:6

463,4

143.7

24.2

2.4

10.2

69.6

16.5

2.0

127.8

512,3

176.3

45.8

9.6

1964

63.4

28.2

181,9

263.6

118.3

191,3

153.2

71.9

20.5

2.2

83,4

27.7

176.6

250.9

94.0

8.6

1.2

34.3

414.8

141,5

24.8

2.4

10.6

62.6

17.7

2.2

125.8

463.8

176,1

43.2

7.8

1963

61,7

26.9

181.0

264.5

111.6

----

---

.-.

19.3

2,2

82.0

26.1

175,7

249.7

84.8

8.4

1.1

33.0

467.0

139.6

22.9

2.3

10.2

66.6

16.2

2.0

133.5

565.9

179.0

45.2

9.7

/

See footnotes at end of table.

28
Table 5. Age-sex-specific’ marriage rates, by previous ~arft~l status: Mam.age.regi8trat.on

area, 1963-67-con.

(Based on sample data. Rates per 1,000 population in specified group. Rates for all marriage8

are based on unmarried population, those for first marriages on single population, and those

for remarriages on widowed and divorced population)

Previous marital status and age

&

All marriages -----------------.=....--.

14-17 years.........--------------------------

18-19 yeara-----------------------------------

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

25-44 years---------------------------........

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

30-34 years--------------------------------.

35-44 years---------------------------------

45-64 years------------------.................

65 years and over-----------------------------

First marriages-------------------------

14-17 years-----------------------------------

18-19 years-----------------------------------

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

25-44 years-----------------------------------

45-64 yeara-----------------------------------

65 years and over----------------.-.....--.-.-

All remarriagesg------------------------

14-24 years-----------------------------------

25-44 years-----------------------------------

45-64 years-----------------------------------

65 years and over-----------------------------

Widowed3--------------------------------

14-44 years-----------------------------------

45-64 yeara-:---------------------------------

65 years and over-------------------.-----..---

Divorced3-------------------------------

14-24 years-----------------------------------

25-44 years-----------------------------------

45-64 yeara-----------------------------------

65 years and over------------------------------

~Inckdes previous marital status not stated,

‘Includes widowed or divorced not stated.

$Excludes data for Michigan and Ohio.

1967

77.4

3.0

72.1

191.0

166.4

245.8

148.4

106.3

52.2

~ 14.2

71..O

3.0

71.3

184.3

125.4

14.4

3.8

107.9

512.0

330.6

92.4

17.2

37.4

215.6

70.3

15.9

206.8

547.0

343.4

107.2

26.0

Source: Vital Statistics f the l.t~

for 1963-64 and 1966-67. Rages for 1965 based on

Current PoPuhtions Reports, Series P-25, No. 384.

1966

76.3

3.1

73.8

195.1

162.6

255.7

140.6

101.5

51,7

14.1

69.4

3,1

73.0

187.9

122.4

13.8

3.5

110.1

534.7

322.2

98.1

17.7

38.8

193P8

75.6

16.9

210.8

518.0

344,3

110.9

26.7

1965

75.3

w .

3.0

70.0

203.2

151.5

237.6

139.5

93.3

49.5

14.5

68.7

3.0

.68.9

195.8

112.0

13.2

3.8

105,5

501.3

318.0

96.7

17.9

38.3

195.2

78.6

16.0

211.6

525.7

342.7

109.2

35.0

Marriage and Divorce

revised populations,

1964

73.2

2.9

69.4

195.7

149.3

208.7

140.1

100.9

47.2

14.5

67.2

2.8

68.2

188.8

112.2

12.9

4.4

98.5

446.9

290.9

88.7

17.2

35.7

160.4

69.8

15.6

197.2

449.9

314.3

101.3

34.6

1963

72.5

2.8

68.4

195*1

149.7

..-

---

---

45.2

15.1

66.6

2.7

67.3

189.1

112.9

12.7

3.7

97.1

337.5

302,6

81.4

18.7

38.4

163.8

70.1

17.4

177.0

353.1

306.6

89.5

26.5

.%tIthitic8, volume III

U.S. Bureau of Census,

29
I

Table 6. Percent distribution of marriages, by age of bride and groom, color, and previous merital statua: Marriage-registration area, 1967

(Based on sample data)

> 1

Age and previous marital status

F

Totall

All merriagea z

All agea-----------------------------100.0

Under 18 years-----------------------------

18-19years-.--,---------------------------- 2!:;

20-24yeara--------------------------------38.8

25-44 years . ..-----. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.8

45-64 years-------------------------------- 6-(J

65 years and over-------------------------- 0.9

Median age---------------------------------21.4

Firstmarriagea

All ages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0

Under 18 years-----------------------------12.4

18-19 yeara--------------------------------30.3

20-24 years---............................. 45.3

25-44 yeara-------------------------------- 11.2

45-64 years-------------------------------- 0.9

65 years and over-------------------------- 0.1

Median age--------------------------- ...... 20.5

Remarriages3

All ages-----------------------------100.0

Under 20 yeara----------------------------

20-24 years------------------------------- - 1:::

25-44 yeara------------------------------- - 53.7

45-64 years------------------------------- - 23.3

65 years and over------------------------- - 3.6

pedian age-------------------------------- - 35.0

Widowed4

All ages---------------------------- - 100.0

Under 25 years----------------------------

25-44years------------------------------- - 3?::

45-64 years-------------------------------- - 51.7

65 years and over------------------------- - 13.1

Median age-------------------------------- - 50.1

Divorced*

All agea----------------------------- 100.0

Under 20 year?---------------------------- - 3.2

20-24 years------------------------------- - 21.4

25-44yeara------------------------------- - 61.0

45-64 years------------------------------- - 13.9

65 years and over------------------------- - 0.5

Median age------------------------ --------. 31.2

Bride

Thite

100.0

10.1

24.9

38.6

1;.;

0:9

21.2

LOO.O

13.3

31.9

45.2

8.9

0.7

0.0

20.3

.00.0

1;:;

52.5

22.7

3.6

34.4

LOO.O

3:::

51.9

13.2

50.2

100.0

2;:;

59.6

13.2

0.5

30.5

All other

100.0

13.2

22.4

31.8

2:.:

0:6

21.7

100.0

16.2

27:3

37.0

17.8

1.6

0.1

20.6

100.0

0.9

6!::

25.9

2.7

37.7

100.0

4?::

46.9

8.2

47.1

100.0

1;:;

70.2

17.1

0.5

34*5

Totall

100.0

1.3

12.9

44.6

31.9

;:;

23.8

100.0

1:::

55.1

25.2

1.4

0.1

22.6

100.0

0.3

5::;

28.1

7.6

39.1

100.0

J:;

50.3

29.6

57.6

100.0

1::;

64.8

21.9

1.8

35.5

Groom

White

100.0

1;:2

45.6

30.3

;:;

23.6

100.0

1;:;

56.8

22.6

1.1

0.1

22.4

100.0

1::;

55.0

26.9

7.5

38.4

100.0

1;:*

50.5

30.6

58.1

100.0

1$:

64.5

21.0

1.6

34.9

All other

100.0

1.6

13.6

$;.:

9:0

2.1

24.1

100.0

L;:i

49.2

28.6

2.6

0.4

22.8

●

100.0

0.l

5:::

33.8

8.9

42.5

100.0

2:::

53,2

22.5

55.8

100.0

0.2

6;:;

25.8

3.5

38.1

lIncludea ~rriages for which color was not ‘tated21nc1udea ~rriages for which previous ❑arital statuswas not stated.

81ncludes remarriages for which widowedor divorcedwas n@ stated.

41%xcludesdata for Michigan and Ohio. 30
Table 7. Number and percentdiatributi.nnof marriages,by race of partner:reportingStates, 1963-67

Total msrriagea2------932,091

White - white-------------816,869

Negro - Negro-------------lQ4,890

Negro - white------------- 2>219

White bride-Negrogroom- 1,772

Negro bride-whitegroom- 447

White - Other~------------ 3,088

Negro - Other$------------ 182

Other - 0ther4------------ 4,843

(Baaedon sample data)

1966 1965 1964 1963

35 I 37 I 361 33

Number of marriages

T

898,193 1,057,054

786,823 927,032

102,146 118,556

1,804 2,649

1,274 l,:?:

530

2,913 3,535

163 186

4,344 5,096

952,0181796,827

340,682 701,261

102,309 88,068

1,484 1,033

1,130 776

354 257

3,069 2,321

4,3:: 4,0%

1967 1966 1965 1964 1963

35 35 37 36 33

Percentdistribution

100.0

—

87.6I

11.3

0.2 ~

0.2

0.0

0.3

::!

100.0 —

87.6

11.4

0.2

0.1

0.1

0.3

0.9

0.5

100.0 I 100.0 I 100.0

87.7 88.3 88.0

11.2 10.7 11.1

0.3 O*2 0.1

0.2 0.1

0.1 0.0 ;:;

lInclude~~oe states in which major areas did not report race (cookCO~tY,

York City in 1965).

Illinoisin 1964-67 and New

%xcludes tirriageaof couples for which race was not stated on the marriage certificate.

81totherf1 ~ncludes all races exceptwhite and Negro, e.g., Japanese,Chinese,FilipinOa,American Indiana,

Hawaiiana,Eakfmoa,etc. The category“white”includesMexican, Puerto Rican, and all other caucasiana. ~Include~~rriage~ between members Of the aa~ “Other”race aa well aa interracialmarriagesin which

neither partnerwa~ Negro or white.

31
,,1

APPENDIX

GENERAL NOTES

A complete discussion of technical aspects of

marriage data appears annually in Volume HI, Vital

Statistics of the United Stites. The followingnotes

pertain to the data included in this report.

Sources of Data

Marriage statistics for the United States and for

the marriage-registration area (MRA) are limited

to events occurring during the year and registered

within the specified area. Tabulations for States and

other areas are by place of occurrence. Events occurring to nonresidents are included; marriages of

members of the Armed Forces or other U.S. nationals

that occur outside the United States are excluded.

United States refers to the 50 States and the District

of Columbia. Alaska has been included in the U.S.

tabulations since 1959 and Hawaii since 1960.

Figures not designated as based on sample data

are compiled from complete counts reported by States

and local areas. Such data are available for the entire

Nation. Figures for characteristics of marriages are

based on data tabulated from probability samples of

records selected in the National Center for Health

Statistics from copies of marriage forms sent in by

States participating in the MRA. Marriages in the

MRA represented about 63 percent of the national

total in 1963, 71 percent in 1964, and 76 percent

in 1965-67.

Marriage Sample

Records from the MRA were sampled at five

different rates which depended on the annual totals

for each State as indicated in the following table:

Marriage sample -- sampling rates and sample size: Marriage-registration -. area, 1967

Stratum and area

Stratum 1: Alaska, Delaware, Vermont, and’Wyoming

Stratum 2: District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire,

Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Utah

Stratum 3: Connecticut, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi,

Nebraaka, Oregon, and West Virginia

Stratum 4: Alabama, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Maaaachusetts,

New Jersey, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wf.aconsin

Stratum 5: California, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, and

Pennsylvania

Sampling

rate

01 records

1/2

1/5

1/10

1/20

Wunber of

sample

records

13,585

32,317

35,122

48,409

35,419 ?,

Estimating Procedures 2. Frequencies were estimated by summing the

weights of the records insteadof tabulating

Frequenciesbaaed on themarriage sampleswere the number of sample cases.Thus, each freestimatedintwo steps. quency distributionsuch as age at marriage

1.

of first-married brides is a t~bulation of the

Each sample case wasassigned a weight which total of weighted sample cases included in

waa the reciprocal of the probability (or sam- each age category.

pling rate) used to select the case. Thus, Rates for census yesra are based on thepopulation

if a marriage record wae selected from a enumerated as of April 1. All other rates are based

State with a probability of 1/10, the record on estimates of the population present in the area

had a weight of 10. as of July 1 including Armed Forces stationed in

32
the area but excluding Armed Forces abroad. The

estimates were prepared by the U.S. Bureau of the

census.

‘Not Stated” Cases

“Not stated” cases arise chiefly from lack of

responses to items on reporting forms and from variation in items requested on forms used in the MRA.

The “not stated” cases of age of bride and of groom

at marriage and of month and day of marriage were

assigned responses by the distribution of stated cases.

The numbers of not-stated cases for each MRA State

and characteristic may be found in Vital Statistics

of the United States, Volume III, of the appropriate

year.

Sampling Errors

Estimates computed from samples vary somewhat

about the value that would be obtained from a complete

census of the same population. The standard error is

a measure of this sampling variability. On the average,

estimates will differ from the corresponding census

value by less than a standard error about 68 percent

of the time. Approximate standard errors of estimates

shown in this report may be obtained from tables I and

II in this appendix.

Since the magnitude of a sampling error of an

estimated rate depends on both the frequency and

the population on which the rate is computed, two or

more identical rates may have different sampling

errors. Marriage frequencies and estimates for the

unmarried resident population by age, matital status,

and sex for the MRA used in computing rates included

in this report appear in Vital Statistics of the United

States, Volume 111,of the specified years.

It is useful to note that the population data often

may be extracted from rates and frequencies. If f

is an estimated frequency for a population and r

is the corresponding rate, then the size of the population involved is f/r.

Rates which appear in this report may be one

of three types, each of which involves “.a different

method for computing the corresponding standard error.

1. The standard error of an estimated proportion

of a known total can be computed by dividing

the standard error for the estimated frequency

by the known total.

As an illustration, table 6 shows that

an estimated 20.8 percent of all brides married

in 1967 in the MRA (or 300,800 brides) were

25-44 years old. Table I indicates that the

sampling error of a frequency equal to 20

percent of the MRA total is 1,724, which divided

by the total number of MRA marriages,

Table I. Standard errors of estimated mrriage frequencies: Marriage-registrat%m area, 1967

(Rounded to nearest 500)

Number 1,446,500

Percent of

L

total MRA---------- 100.0

rn.srriages

-.

Standard error-. -1 . . .

===!=

Standard error ----- I 1,293

i I I I I

14,500 29,000 43,500 58,000 72,500 101,500

1,4%,000 1,4G,500 1,4%,000 1, 3%, 500 1,3% ,000 l,3&ooo

1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 7.0

or or or or or or

99.0 98.0 97.0 96.0 95.0 93.0

429 604 735 845 940 1,100

217,000 289,500 361,5(M 434,000 578,500

1, 2%, 500 1,1%,000 l, O:;, OQO 1,0 E,500

723,500

86ZOO0

15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0 40.0

or or or or or 50.0

85.0 80.0 75.0 70.0 60.0 I

I i I I

1,539 1,724 11,867 1,976 2,112 2,155

33
Table II. Standard errors of estimated marriage rate (per 1,000 population) by number of marriages and

size of base population: Marriage-registrationarea, 1967

Number

14,500

29,000

43,500

58,000

72,500

f):,;:;

217;000

289,500

361,500

723,500

1,085,000

1,157,000

1,229,500

1,302,000

1,432,000

2.

Marriages

Corresponding

% of total

marriages in

1.0

2.0

:::

5.0

1:::

15.0

20.0

25.0

50.0

75.0

80.0

85.0

90.0

99.0

25 50 100 200

117.0 41.5 13.7

... 82.1 26.8 :::

... ... 39.8 14.6

... ... 52.9 19.3

... ... 6~:~ ::.;

... ...

... ... ... 47:6

... ... ... ...

... ... ... ...

... ... ... ...

... ... ... ...

... ... ... ...

... ... ... ...

... ... ... ...

... ... ... ...

... ... ... ...

Population in 1,000’s

Tr 300 500 1,000

--t--i2.9

5.5

1;:+

13.3

18.4

26.1

39.0

51.9

...

...

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . . . . . . . .

1,446,299, yields.0012,or 0.1 percent.By 3.

addingsnd subtracting 0.1 from 20.8 we obtain

the interval 20.7 to 20.9. The chances are about

68 out of 100 thatthe actutil percentage falls

within this interval.

Proportions with an estimatedbase,and with

counts in the numerator also included in the

denominator, have standard error:

u-P

Y*

Where P- XIY is the proportion of interest

SX. standard error of x

Sy . standard error of y

For example, if we desire the standard

error of the proportion of white marriages

in which the bride was single, then from table

E:

X- 616,480,Y=811,719

From table I, we can interpolate to get

S, ~ 2123 s/.2129

CPA .0017. The standard error of the corresponding percent is then .17X.

0.58

1.0

H

2.2

jg

8:0

10.0

19.7

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

2,500

0.19

0.34

0.39

0.48

0.56

0.71

0.98

1.4

1.8

t:

“H

7.1

:::

5,000

0.09

0.13

0.16

0.19

0.22

0.28

0.35

0.47

0.59

oi7;

.

u

2.0

2.2

2.4

10,000

0.04

0.06

0.07

0.09

0.10

0.12

0.14

0.17

0.20

0.22

;..3;

0:43

0.45

0.46

0.49

15,000

0.!33

0.04

0.05

0.06

0.06

0.07

0.09

0.10

0.12

0.13

0.16

0.16

0016

0.1!!

0.15

0.16

The sampling error ofaratio, when thenumerator and the denominator are estimates of

different parameters based on probability samples can be approximated using the following

formula:

%-w

Intbiaformula, x represents the estimated frequency of a particular characteristic of the

population, and Sk is the sampling error of

x; y is the estimated size of the population

at risk, and SY is the sampling error of Y.

It should be noted that the formula shown above

gives the sampling error of a proportion. In

order to obtain a sampling error of a rate

per 1,QoO,S@,Y,should be multiplied by 1,000.

The sampling errors of many such rates

are given in table IL For example, suppose

the standard error for the 1967 remarriage

rate for all women 14 and over is to be calculated (table 5). From the Vital Sfutistics

34
volume, the base population is seen to be

9,544,000. So the total number of remarriages

for this population is (9,544) (34.2)= 326,405.

This enables one to decide which row and column

to use in table H, and the standard error is

seen to be 0.2.

If the ratio is the relative change in rates,

as in table D, then a further approximation can

be made

‘f?%#M3%+’:2

If the relative difference is measured in percent,

of course the akwe would be multiplied by 100 to

obtain the approximate standard error of the percent

relative change.

To determine if two prop+mions &l and 22 (or two

percentages of ratea converted into proportions) are

significantly different statistically, the following

expression can be used:

If this quotient is greater than 2, the probability is

roughly .05 that the difference between the two pro -

portions is due to chance.

W.% GOVERNMENT PRINTING 0FFICE1980 341-161/28 1.3 35
VITAL AND HEALTH STATISTICS PUBLICATION SERIES

Formerly Public Health Service Publication No. 1000

Series 1. Pvog7ams and collection procedwes. — Reports which describe the general programs of the National

Center for Health Statistics and its offices and divisions, data collection methods used, defirdtions,

and other material necessary for understanding the data.

Series 2. Data evaluation and methods research. — Studies of new statistical methodology including: experi--

mental tests of ne~ 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 expository types of reports in the other series.

Swies 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 from the Health Intevview Swvev. —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.

Series 11. Data fvom the Health Examination Survey. —Data from direct examination, testing, and measurement of national samples of the civilian, noninstitutional 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.

Swies 12. Data j%om the Institutional Population Swveys — Statistics relating to the health characteristics of

persons in institutions, and their 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 j?om the Hospitil Discharge Survey. —Statistics relating to discharged patients in short-stay

hospitals, based on a sample of patient records in a national sample of hospitals.

Swies 14. Data on health resources: manpower and facilities, —Statistics on the numbers, geographic distribution, and characteristics of health resources including physicians, dentists, nurses, other health

occupations, hospitals, nursing homes, and outpatient facilities.

Series 20. Data on mortality. -Various statistics on mortality other than as included in regular annual or

monthly reports— special analyses by cause of death, age, and other demographic variables, a!so

geographic and time series analyses.

Series 21. Data on natality, mawia~e, and divorce. —Various statistics on natality, marriage, and divorce

other than as included in regular 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 chai-acteristics of births

and deaths not available from the vital records, based on sample surveys stemming from these

records, including such topics as mortality by socioeconomic class, hospital experience in the

last year of life, medical care during pregnancy, health insurance coverage, etc.

For a list of titles of reports published in these series, write to: Office of Information

National Center for Health Statistics

Public Health Service, HSMHA

Rockville, h4d. 20852