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 Release Information CB11-144 **Contact:**  Robert Bernstein/Neil TillmanPublic Information Office
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 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  THURSDAY, AUG. 25, 2011 Divorce Rates Highest in the South, Lowest in the Northeast, Census Bureau Reports Men and women in the South  had higher rates of divorce in 2009 than in other regions of the country, 10.2  per 1,000 for men and 11.1 per 1,000 for women, according to a new report from  the U.S. Census Bureau. The national divorce rate was 9.2 for men and 9.7 for  women. By contrast, men and women  in the Northeast had the lowest rates of divorce, 7.2 and 7.5 (see table [PDF]). These new statistics come  from the report *Marital Events of  Americans: 2009* [PDF], which examines marriage, divorce and widowhood in America  as well as selected characteristics for those experiencing a marital event in  the past year. The report is the first of its kind to describe the detailed  characteristics of marital events among Americans ages 15 and older using data  from the 2009 American Community Survey (ACS). "Divorce rates tend to be  higher in the South because marriage rates are also higher in the South," said  Diana Elliott, a family demographer at the Census Bureau. "In contrast, in the  Northeast, first marriages tend to be delayed and the marriage rates are lower, meaning there are also fewer divorces." In 2009, 14 states had  divorce rates for men that were significantly above the U.S. average, ranging  from 10.0 to 13.5 per 1,000 (see figure [PDF]). Higher than average divorce rates for men occurred mostly in Southern states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia,  Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas. In contrast, nine  states had divorce rates for men significantly below the U.S. average, ranging  from 6.1 to 8.5. Of these states five were in the Northeast: Connecticut,  Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. Fourteen states had divorce  rates for women above the U.S. average, ranging from 10.7 to 16.2 (see figure [PDF]).  Nine of the 14 states were in the South, including Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia,  Kentucky, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. Meanwhile, 
10 states had divorce rates for women below the U.S. average, ranging  from 6.0 to 8.9. Four states with below-average divorce rates for women were in  the Northeast: Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. Findings also show: National  rates of marriage in the past 12 months were 19.1 for men and 17.6 for women.  There were 3.5 instances of widowhood for men and 7.8 for women, per every  1,000 people.

  Children living with a parent who divorced in 2009 were more  likely to live in a household headed by their mother (75 percent) than in a  household headed by their father (25 percent). Additionally, children living  with a parent who divorced in 2009 were more likely to be in a household below  the poverty level (28 percent) compared with other children (19 percent), and  they were more likely to live in a rented home (53 percent) compared with other  children (36 percent).

  The economic well-being of those who experienced a recent  marital event differed.
  Women  who divorced in the past 12 months were more likely to receive public  assistance than recently divorced men (23 percent and 15 percent).

  Women  who divorced in the past 12 months reported less household income than recently  divorced men. For example, 27 percent of women who divorced in the past 12 months had  less than $25,000 in annual household income compared with 17 percent of  recently divorced men. Similarly,  women who divorced in the past 12 months were more likely than recently  divorced men to be in poverty (22 percent compared with 11 percent).

  Women  who divorced in the past 12 months were more likely to be living in a  multigenerational household -- 11 percent of such women, compared with 5 percent  of men.

  Thirteen states had median durations for second marriages for  women below the U.S. median of 14.5 years. This included six states in the  Northeast (Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and  Vermont) ranging from 13.1 to 13.6 years.

  Among  those widowed in the last year, 77 percent of men and 73 percent of women were  white alone, non-Hispanic. Historically, data on  marriages and divorces in the United States were collected from marriage and  divorce certificates filed and collected at the state-level through the National  Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) vital statistics system. In 1996, the  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the NCHS discontinued the  collection of detailed state-level vital records data from marriage and divorce  certificates. Beginning in 2008, questions about marital events were added to the  ACS to collect national and state-level marriage and divorce data. These new  marital events items fill a void in the marriage and divorce data collected in  the United States.  **As is the case with all surveys,  statistics from sample surveys are subject to sampling and nonsampling error.  All comparisons made in the reports have been tested and found to be  statistically significant at the 90 percent confidence level, unless otherwise  noted. Please consult the data tables for specific margins of error. For more  information, go to <https://www.census.gov/acs/www/data_documentation/documentation_main/>.** Editor’s note: The report will be publicly available at https://www.census.gov/prod/2011pubs/acs-13.pdf
on 12:01 a.m. EDT, Thursday, August 25, 2011. **Follow @uscensusbureau on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and Ustream.**
 
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