Family and the Lifecourse
Source and Methodological Information
List of Indicators
Percent of Young Adults Living with Parents/Grandparents
Total Fertility Rate
Description
The sum of birth rates per 1,000 women for all eight 5-year age groups between 10 and 49, multiplied by five and divided by 1,000. The total fertility rate can be interpreted as the number of children a woman would be expected to have in her lifetime given current fertility patterns.
Source
National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics Reports.
Methodological Notes
The National Center for Health Statistics collects fertility data from birth certificates. The data are based on 100 percent of births in selected states and on a 50-percent sample of births in all other states. More information is available from the National Vital Statistics System.
General Fertility Rate
Description
Number of births per 1,000 women age 15 to 44.
Source
National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics Reports.
Methodological Notes
The National Center for Health Statistics collects fertility data from birth certificates. The data are based on 100 percent of births in selected states and on a 50-percent sample of births in all other states. More information is available from the National Vital Statistics System.
Marriage Rate
Description
Number of marriages per 1,000 total population.
Source
National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics Reports.
Methodological Notes
Marriage data are reported to the National Center for Health Statistics by each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. For more information about how the data are compiled, see the Technical Notes of the National Vital Statistics Reports at the above link.
Divorce Rate
Description
Number of divorces per 1,000 total population.
Source
National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics Reports.
Methodological Notes
Divorce data is reported to the National Center for Health Statistics by 44 states and the District of Columbia. The data exclude California, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Louisiana, and Minnesota. For more information about how the data are compiled, see the Technical Notes of the National Vital Statistics Reports at the above link.
Cohabitation Rate
Description
Percent of adults age 18 to 64 who live with unmarried partners.
Source
Estimates are produced by the Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality, using microdata from the basic monthly Current Population Survey.
Methodological Notes
This measure is a proxy for the cohabitation rate. It is the number of adults age 18 to 64 who are either an unmarried partner to the household’s reference person or who are reference persons with unmarried partners, as a percentage of the total population age 18 to 64. Cohabiting couples in which neither partner is the reference person are, therefore, not counted as cohabiting. A household’s reference person is the person (or one of the people) who own or rent the housing unit in which a household resides; or, if there is no such person, any adult member, excluding roomers, boarders or paid employees. If the house is owned or rented jointly by a married couple, the reference person may be either the husband or the wife.
A variable that can be used to estimate the cohabitation rate in a direct way has been available in the Current Population Survey since 2007, but the proxy measure allows for the construction of a longer-term trend. From 2007 to the present, changes in the proxy measure have closely tracked changes in the actual cohabitation rate; however, the level of the proxy measures has been consistently lower, by about 1 to 1.5 percentage points.
Percent of Young Adults Living with their Parents/Grandparents
Description
Percent of 19- to 34-year olds who live in households headed by their parents or grandparents.
Source
Estimates are produced by the Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality, using microdata from the basic monthly Current Population Survey.
Methodological Notes
Young adults are considered to be living with their parents or grandparents if their relationship to the household’s reference person is “child” or “grandchild.” A household’s reference person is the person (or one of the people) who own or rent the housing unit in which a household resides; or, if there is no such person, any adult member, excluding roomers, boarders or paid employees. If the house is owned or rented jointly by a married couple, the reference person may be either the husband or the wife.