These files contain data used in FiveThirtyEight's story on marriage trends.File names are self-explanatory. Source for all data is Decennial Census (years 1960 to 2000) and American Community Survey (years 2001-2012), via IPUMS USA.
Except in the divorce file, figures represent share of the relevant population that has never been married (MARST == 6 in the IPUMS data). Note that in the story, charts generally show the share that have ever been married, which is simply 1 - n. In the divorce file, figures are share of the relevant population that is currently divorced, conditional on having ever been married.
Variable names are as follows. Number in variable names are age ranges, so all_2534 is the marriage rate for everyone ages 25 to 34.
| Header | Description |
|---|---|
all |
Total (or all men/women in sex-specific files) |
HS |
High school graduate or less (EDUCD < 65) |
SC |
Some college (EDUCD >= 65 & <= 100) |
BAp |
Bachelor's degree or more (EDUCD > 100) |
BAo |
Bachelor's degree, no graduate degre (EDUCD > 100 & <= 113) |
GD |
Graduate degree (EDUCD > 113) |
White |
Non-Hispanic white |
Black |
Black or African-American |
Hisp |
Hispanic of any race |
NE |
New England (REGION == 11) |
MA |
Mid-Atlantic (REGION == 12) |
Midwest |
Midwest (REGION == 21-23) |
South |
South (REGION == 31-34) |
Mountain |
Mountain West (REGION == 41) |
Pacific |
Pacific (REGION == 42) |
poor |
Family income in lowest 25% |
mid |
Family income in middle 50% |
rich |
Family income in top 25% |
work |
Employed 50+ weeks prior year |
nowork |
Not employed at least 50 weeks prior year |
nokids_all |
No own children living at home |
kids_all |
At least one own child living at home |