Marriage Statistics

In the early 1980s, the United States witnessed the highest number of divorces ever granted: over one million. This led to an almost predictable domino effect with some of the children of divorce. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the United States experienced the highest rates of teen sexual activity, teen pregnancy, births to teenage mothers, and out of wedlock births in our nation’s history. Today’s new generation is still experiencing the trickle-down effect by being part of the nation’s highest-ever numbers of children born out of wedlock, and numbers of children raised by single fathers and mothers, unmarried parents and grandparents. Meanwhile, the marriage rate in the United States flirts with an all-time low.¹

• Over the last several decades, marriage in our nation has declined, while cohabitation, divorce and unmarried childbearing have increased.
• From 1970 to 1996, the marriage rate in the United States fell by a third, from 77 to 50 marriages per 1,000 unmarried women.²
• From 1960 to 1998, the number of unmarried, cohabiting couples increased nearly tenfold, from 439,000 to 4.2 million.³
• Divorce rates also increased from 9 to 23 per married couples from 1960 to 1980, before declining slightly and remaining steady at 20 per 1,000 through 1998.⁴
• Births to unmarried women increased from 11 to 33 percent of all births from 1970 to 1994, then leveled off through 1999.⁵
• Nationally, 1.3 million children are born out-of-wedlock each year.⁶

(The data is for the year 2000 unless otherwise noted.)  

Population in Illinois:⁷  

• The total population is 12,600,620. (2002)

•  Illinois houses 4.37% of the national population.

• The majority of people (68%) live in family households.

• More than six in ten people (67.8%) are Caucasian, 15.1% are African American, 12.3% are Hispanic, 3.4% are Asian, and 0.2% are Native American. (2002)

Marriage in Illinois:

• 89,469 couples were married in 2001.  This is a 5.5% decrease since 1991.⁸

• Over seven in ten people (71.1%) in Illinois over fifteen years in age have been married.

• Over half (53.6%) are currently married.⁹

• The marriage rate is 7.2 per 1000 people.¹⁰ (2001)

• A total of 37,180 coupes were divorced in 2001.¹¹

• Nearly nine in one hundred people (8.9%) in Illinois over fifteen years in age are currently divorced.¹²

• The divorce rate is 3 per 1,000 people.¹³ (2001)

• A total of 63,425 births were to unmarried women in 2001. This is a 49.8% increase since 1981.¹⁴  

• Over a third (34.5%) of all births in Illinois are non-marital.¹⁵

Population in Lake and Cook Counties:

• The total population in these two counties is 6,052,357.¹⁶ (2002)  

Population in Cook County:¹⁷  

• Four out of ten Illinois residents (42.68%) live in Cook County, as Chicago, the third largest city in the United States, is located here. (2002)

• Almost three quarters (74.9%) of African Americans, and seven out of ten Hispanics in  Illinois reside in Cook County. (2002) 
• Nearly half (47.6%) of the residents are Caucasian, 26.1% are African-American, 19.9% are Hispanic, 4.6% are Asian, and 0.3% are Native American. (2002)

Population in Lake County¹⁸

• The total county population is 674,850. (2002)
• More than seven in ten people (73.4%) are Caucasian, 6.9% are African- American, 14.4% are Hispanic, 3.9% are Asian, and 0.3% are Native American. (2002) 

Marriage in Lake and Cook Counties:

• A total of 44,746 couples were married in 2001.¹⁹

• In the Chicago area, 66.4% (3.11 million) of the population 15 years and over have been married.²⁰

• Of  those who have been married, 73.3% (2.28 million) are currently married, 3.6%   (112,530) are separated, and 12.8% (396,476) are divorced. The rest (10.4%) have been  widowed.²¹  

Households in Lake and Cook Counties:

• There are 2,190,705 households in the Chicago area.²²

• Nearly 5% (109,858) of households were occupied by unmarried partners in 2001.

• Nearly a third (32.6%) of all households in the Chicago area have their own children under 18 years old.²³

• Over one-fourth (28.8%) of the households with children are not headed by married couples.²⁴

• A female with no husband present and raising her own children under 18 years old heads 7.6% (167,088) of Chicago area households.²⁵

Divorce in Lake and Cook Counties:  

• A total of 14,543 coupes were divorced in 2001.²⁶

• Over eight in one hundred people (8.5%) in the Chicago area over fifteen years in age are divorced and are currently not remarried.²⁷

Out of Wedlock Births in Lake and Cook Counties:

• A total of 43,971 births were to unmarried women in 2002.²⁸

• Nearly 8% of these out of wedlock births were to teenagers.²⁹

• In the Chicago area, over three-fourths (76.5%) of African-American births, 42.3% of all Hispanic births and 19.8% of all Caucasian births are non-marital.³⁰

The large and growing body of research reveals that people from every social, economic and ethnic group are impacted by family breakup and high-risk relationships. 

Divorced Couples and Broken Homes

• The impact on the emotional, financial, and physical well being of a divorced couple is immediate, and essentially negative.³¹

• It takes many years for both ex-spouses to recoup emotionally, financially and    psychologically from the impacts of their divorce.³²

• Regardless of age, many children of divorced parents have never fully overcome the adverse affects of family disruption.³³

Remarried Couples and Step-Families

• Remarried couples experience a much higher rate of divorce than first-time married couples.³⁴

• Couples in second marriages and step family members experience a wider range of  emotional complexities and relational challenges.³⁵

Out of Wedlock Births and Single-Parent Families

• Unmarried mothers and children from unmarried homes are likely to be in poverty or near the poverty level for an extended period of time.³⁶

• Women raising children out of wedlock are less likely to find a marriageable mate than single, childless women.³⁷

• Children of single parents are more likely to engage in high-risk relationships and high-risk behaviors at an earlier age, than children raised by a married mother and father.³⁸

Cohabitating Couples and Unmarried Families

• Greater rates of unhappiness, dissatisfaction, and dysfunctional relationship behavior (domestic abuse, unfaithfulness, high amounts of conflict) exist in cohabiting relationships.³⁹

• Couples living together before marriage have a greater rate of divorce than those who did not live together.⁴⁰

• Over one-third of all cohabiting relationships involve kids.  These children are at greater risk to be physically and/or sexually abused, and they are more likely to repeat the high risk relationship behaviors of their parent(s).⁴¹  

Research has shown that both divorce and unmarried childbearing decrease the economic well being of both children and mothers. Only 9% of children under six in two-parent households are poor, while 47% of those living in single-mother households live in poverty.⁴²  More specifically, 45% of children raised by divorced mothers and 69% raised by never-married mothers live in or near poverty.⁴³  One analysis found that nearly 80% of child poverty occurs in broken or never-formed families, and it concludes that more marriages could reduce poverty by as much as 25%.⁴⁴  

When compared to children in two-parent households, evidence reveals that children in one-parent households are affected in additional negative ways.

• Children in two-parent households are less than half as likely to have emotional or behavioral problems.⁴⁵
• Children in two-parent households are a third as likely to use illegal drugs, alcohol or tobacco.⁴⁶
• Children in two-parent households are 44% less likely to be physically abused or neglected.⁴⁷
• Boys in two-parent households are only half as likely to commit a crime leading to incarceration by their thirties.⁴⁸
• Fifteen year-old girls in two-parent homes are one-third less likely to be sexually active.⁴⁹
• Children in two-parent households have higher grades, higher college aspirations, better school attendance and lower school drop-out rates.⁵⁰
• Children in two-parent households are less likely to cohabit prior to marriage,⁵¹become a single parent,⁵² or teen parent,⁵³ and to become separated⁵⁴ or divorced.⁵⁵

A recent literature review documents the general consensus among researchers that children in single-family households are at greater risk for poor health, behavioral, and educational outcomes. They are also more likely than children in two-parent families to live in poverty, drop out of high school, abuse drugs or alcohol, and exhibit delinquent behavior. Conversely, children who grow up with married, biological parents are more likely to complete high school, have better health, and become economically self-sufficient as adults.⁵⁶  

The benefits of marriage for both men and women include:

• lower mortality rates,

• lower rates of chronic illnesses or disabilities,

• higher ratings of one’s own health,

• less depression, anxiety and suicide,

• less problem drinking and substance abuse,

• greater financial well-being, and

• lower rates of intimate partner violence.⁵⁷

Another advantage of marriage is that it can also result in higher levels of paternal involvement with the family and assistance with childcare responsibilities.⁵⁸  

It is important to note that these superior outcomes do not accompany cohabitation. Cohabiting relationships are far less stable than marriages. Cohabiters experience less emotional and financial success and higher rates of domestic violence. As noted before, marriages following cohabitation are more likely to end in divorce than those not preceded by cohabitation.⁵⁹  Over one-third of cohabiting relationships involve kids,⁶⁰ and children living with cohabiting couples have more behavior problems and lower academic performance than children in married-couple families.⁶¹  

Even though marriage offers benefits that cohabitation does not, two-thirds of American teens (67%) believe that it is better to live with someone prior to marriage to determine compatibility.⁶² The majority of teens (59%) also expect to cohabit themselves.⁶³  

Certain relationship behaviors of some young people typically do not lead to lifelong commitment. 

• Currently, 40% of young women have “hooked up” (engaged in a physical encounter with a male with no commitment attached).⁶⁴
• The earlier and more frequently teens engage in sexual activities, the more prone they are to acquire an STD, get pregnant, get raped or abused, and use drugs and alcohol.  They are also less likely to marry and more prone to future infidelity and divorce.⁶⁵
• The higher the frequency of relationship break-ups, the greater chances of susceptibility to divorce in the future.⁶⁶

Studies of new parents’ attitudes toward marriage have found that most low-income unmarried parents are romantically involved with each other, and more than half believe their children would benefit from them marrying.⁶⁷ Research shows that more than 80% of women who have a child out of wedlock are romantically and exclusively involved with the father at the time of the child’s birth. About half of the unmarried parents are living together. Although more than two-thirds of those couples actively considered marriage, a year after the child was born, only 10% had married.⁶⁸ Personal, financial and educational characteristics such as bad health, low education, lacking job skills, limited employment history, and poor relationship skills can impede the ability of these low-income parents to enter and maintain a successful marriage.⁶⁹  

While some attitudes and behaviors of young people threaten the structure of marriage,other aspirations of teens also provide hope for the future of marriage. Nearly nine in ten (89%) youth want to be married, and almost all (93%) believe marriage is a lifelong commitment.⁷⁰ A majority of college women (83%) desire to be married someday,⁷¹ and almost all (96%) want their future marriage to last a lifetime.⁷²  Eighty-four percent of teens agree that it is best for a child to be raised by their married mother and father.⁷³  

The government has recognized that this seemingly familial issue of marriage and single parenting does indeed affect the economy and society. The Bush administration wants to spend 1.5 billion dollars over the next five years to “explicitly promote healthy marriages as a path toward economic independence and successful child-rearing for the nation’s 5 million welfare recipients.” ⁷⁴ This could be made possible once Congress approves legislation reauthorizing the 1996 Welfare Reform Act, which would fund church-based nonprofits and other “marriage educators” for this purpose.⁷⁵  President Bush explained the policy rationale: “The most effective, direct way to improve the lives of children is to encourage the stability of American families.”⁷⁶ Research supports the belief that family formation and maintenance can play a crucial role in reducing many poor families’ dependency on public assistance.⁷⁷  

People from every social, economic and ethnic group in the United States are impacted by family break-ups and high-risk relationships. However, there is a need to address the specific challenges of unique groups with culturally competent strategies as statistics vary significantly for each ethnic group. 

• 35% of Americans between 24 and 34 have never married. The figure is 54% for African Americans.⁷⁸
• African Americans are less likely than any other group in America to ever marry.⁷⁹
• Married couples head 76% of American families. The figure for African-American families is 47.9%.⁸⁰
• Between 1960 and 1995, the number of African-American children living with two married parents dropped from 75% to 33%.⁸¹
• Nationally, only 33.3% of African American children live in married couple families, compared to 74.6% of Non-Hispanic white children.⁸²
• Only 17.7% of Non-Hispanic white children live in single-parent families, compared to 46.2% of African-American children.⁸³
• Twelve percent of African-American children live with neither parent, compared with 3.7% of Non-Hispanic white children.⁸⁴
• In the United States, 33.1% of African-American children were living in poverty in 1999, while only 9.4% of African-American children living in married couple families were living in poverty.⁸⁵
• Compared to a national average of 33%, 69% of African-American births are to unmarried mothers.⁸⁶
• In the Chicago area, over three-fourths (76.5%) of African-American births, 42.3% of all Hispanic births and 19.8% of all Caucasian births are non-marital.⁸⁷

There has been a growing recognition by researchers, advocates, policymakers, and service providers in the United States of the economic, emotional, and societal benefits of two-parent families, particularly for children.

Although an increase in marriages would certainly improve the American economy and society, marriage alone is not the most effective remedy for the weakened family structure.  Once married, couples face continual problems and conflict.  They need the skills and education in order to obtain and sustain a healthy marriage. Research has found successful and unsuccessful couples to have the same level of disagreement and to disagree about the same basic issues: money, kids, sex, other people, and time.  The difference between a happy, healthy marriage and one that is not is connected to how the couple understands and accepts inevitable disagreements, and how they handle them.⁸⁸  

Two ways to promote relationship skills such as communication, managing conflict, and working together as a team are through pre-marriage programs and continuing relationship education. Programs help couples “avoid interpersonal behaviors that undermine their relationship and develop positive behaviors that nurture it.”⁸⁹ A literature review found that numerous marriage promotion programs “reduce strife, improve communication, enhance parenting skills, and increase marital stability and happiness.”⁹⁰ This review discovered that the programs were effective across socioeconomic classes. 

The primary strategies to promote family formation include providing public and individual education, removing barriers to successful marriage, and eliminating policy and financial disincentives. Education about the benefits of marriage and ways to promote and strengthen healthy marriages can be provided through public outreach campaigns. Educational materials can also list community resources for additional support and information. Collaborations with existing community initiatives dedicated to the goals of promoting healthy marriages and families may reach a larger audience.⁹¹  The government is needed in this collaboration to bring the community together and to provide a unifying national focus.

Most existing structured marriage support programs have been designed to assist middle-income, college-educated, white couples.  In order to be most effective, these programs and curricula need to be adapted to address the needs and environments of various cultural and socioeconomic groups, especially African-Americans and Hispanics, who have much lower marriage rates as well as higher out-of-wedlock births than white couples.

In our nation, and certainly in the Chicago area, marriage and family–the basic cell of society–is in need of structure and support. We join with like-minded people and organizations nationwide that recognize this need and are presenting visions of how to make it happen. Working together we can transform the Chicago area environment from a culture of dysfunction and divorce to a culture of healthy, lasting marriages and strong families.

Helpful quotes and insights: 

“Marriage is more than just a love match.  Good relationships involve skills that need to be taught and learned.”⁹²

^“Marriage is not merely a private taste or private relation; it is an important public good. As marriage weakens, the costs are borne not only by individual children and families, but also by all of us taxpayers, citizens, and neighbors.  We all incur the costs of higher crime, welfare, education and health care expenditures, and in reduced security for our own marriage investments… as a matter of public health alone, to take just one public consequence of marriage’s decline, a new campaign to reduce marriage failure is an important as the campaign to reduce smoking.”⁹³  

"Marriage is a fundamental social institution.  It is central to the nurture and raising of children.  It is the social glue that reliably attaches fathers to children.  It contributes to the physical, emotional and economic health of men, women, and children, and thus to the nation as a whole.”⁹⁴  

The Northwest Marriage and Family Movement concludes from its research: “Healthy, strong marriages between a man and a woman are good for adults, essential for children, and positive for society.”⁹⁵  

“If family trends of recent decades are extended into the future, the result will be not only growing uncertainty within marriage, but the gradual elimination of marriage in favor of casual liaisons oriented to adult expressiveness and self-fulfillment.  The problem with that scenario is that children will be harmed, adults will probably be no happier, and the social order could collapse.”⁹⁶  

According to the Marriage Movement Statement, signed by various leaders, “…the decline of marriage is not inevitable.  Social recovery is possible, as the recent encouraging turnaround in the divorce rate affirms.”⁹⁷  

Hopeful recent statistical trends:

• Sexual abstinence and secondary abstinence among young people is on the rise.⁹⁸
• The number of couples divorcing is slightly decreasing.⁹⁹
• Divorce rates have virtually leveled off.¹⁰⁰
• The rate of teenage pregnancies and births have dropped.¹⁰¹