{"id":14122,"date":"2014-05-29T14:45:33","date_gmt":"2014-05-29T19:45:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/census-says-it-will-count-same-sex-marriages-but-with-caveats\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:21:25","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:21:25","slug":"census-says-it-will-count-same-sex-marriages-but-with-caveats","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2014\/05\/29\/census-says-it-will-count-same-sex-marriages-but-with-caveats\/","title":{"rendered":"Census says it will count same-sex marriages, but with caveats"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Comparison<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Credit:
Credit: Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>\n\n

The U.S. Census Bureau said that it will count same-sex spouses<\/a> as married couples for the first time, rather than grouping them with cohabiting partners. The agency said it would make the change with the September release of data from its largest household survey<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

The new approach reflects the bureau\u2019s evolving policy on reporting household relationships<\/a>, as it tries to keep pace with social change. Same-sex marriage is now legal in 19 states<\/a> and the District of Columbia, and only one state (North Dakota) has a ban that has not been challenged<\/a> in court.<\/p>\n\n

Previously, the Census Bureau categorized same-sex spouses as unmarried partners, even if they said they were married, and the bureau included the figures in published statistics about cohabiting couples.<\/p>\n\n

Supporters of gay marriage describe the bureau\u2019s changes as long overdue<\/a> and say that recognition by the Census Bureau reflects Americans\u2019 growing acceptance of same-sex relationships and legal recognition by courts in a growing number of states. In the long term, the impact will be to broaden and deepen the statistics available about the families, economic circumstances and other characteristics of same-sex married couples.<\/p>\n\n

However, demographic data researchers are not sure how much of a real impact there will be from the data right away.<\/p>\n\n

First, the same-sex married population is still very small. There were 56 million\u00a0households headed by opposite-sex\u00a0married couples reported in the 2012 American Community Survey. By contrast, only about 182,000 households headed by same-sex married couples were counted in a special tabulation<\/a> by the bureau released separately from its published tables. (About 81,000 were male couples and 101,000 were female couples.)<\/p>\n\n

Because of the large difference in the number of same-sex and opposite-sex spouses, the change in how they are counted should not affect overall marriage trends or characteristics, according to Census Bureau officials.<\/p>\n\n

Second, the census\u2019s data about married same-sex couples has flaws. The agency has acknowledged \u201ca very serious problem\u201d of overcounts<\/a> of same-sex spouses, due to people in some heterosexual couples mistakenly checking the wrong sex box on the census questionnaire.<\/p>\n\n

The Census Bureau currently produces its data on same-sex couples by using answers to questions about respondents\u2019 sex and about how they are related to the householder, or person who fills out the census form. Agency officials are experimenting with alternative ways to ask relationship questions. They also are seeking information about dealing with this problem from other countries, such as Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, that collect data about same-sex couples.<\/p>\n\n

The census first included an option for \u201cunmarried partner\u201d for all couples in the 1990 census and the bureau reported counts from that census for both same-sex and opposite-sex cohabiters. However, the bureau had a policy not to count same-sex couples who said they were married as married couples until now. They changed respondents\u2019 answers in different ways from decade to decade.<\/p>\n\n

For example, if a same-sex couple reported being married in 1990, the bureau changed the sex of one of the spouses because gay marriage was not legal. Then, starting with the 2000 census, the agency changed how it categorized same-sex marriages again. In the 2000 census, if a same-sex couple reported they were married, the bureau changed their status to unmarried. Under its new policy, the bureau will count same-sex couples who say they are spouses as married couples.<\/p>\n\n

The Census Bureau\u2019s new policy \u201cis an important step that shows how Census and U.S. society have changed in attitudes about the meanings of marriage and family,\u201d Gary Gates, who studies the demographics of same-sex couples at the Williams Institute at UCLA Law School, said in an email.\u00a0 \u201cAnalytically, the impact of the change is relatively minimal because there are still data quality issues to be addressed and because the total number of married same-sex couples is not large enough to substantively alter broader statistics about married couples and families in the U.S.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

In recent years, the bureau has made data about same-sex spouses available on a limited basis. The special tabulation<\/a>\u00a0cannot be accessed through the agency\u2019s official data portal, American FactFinder, and has only a restricted set of variables\u2014for example, employment status is given but not occupation or industry. The agency plans to continue releasing these annual basic tables, according to Rose Kreider, chief of the bureau\u2019s Fertility and Family Statistics Branch.<\/p>\n\n

Detailed statistics about same-sex married couples (as well as opposite-sex married couples) will be accessible to expert users, via census microdata from both the 2013 American Community Survey and 2014 Current Population Survey this year. These are individual-level records scrubbed of identifying information that typically are released several months after the initial data. Microdata are available through the bureau website or the Minnesota Population Center\u2019s Integrated Public-Use Microdata Series<\/a>, and mainly are accessed using statistical software.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The new approach reflects the bureau’s evolving policy on reporting household relationships, as it tries to keep pace with social change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":null,"sub_title":"","_crdt_document":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"relatedPosts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[]},"categories":[220,226],"bylines":[950],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[515],"research-teams":[519],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-14122","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","hentry","category-same-sex-marriage-1","category-same-sex-marriage-2","bylines-dvera-cohn","formats-short-read","regions-countries-united-states","research-teams-social-trends"],"label":"Short Read","post_parent":0,"word_count":800,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2014\/05\/29\/census-says-it-will-count-same-sex-marriages-but-with-caveats\/","art_direction":{"A1":{"id":26565,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/05\/FT_14.05.29_CensusSSM-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/05\/FT_14.05.29_CensusSSM-jpg.webp?w=564&h=300&crop=1","width":564,"height":300,"chartArt":false},"A2":{"id":26565,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/05\/FT_14.05.29_CensusSSM-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/05\/FT_14.05.29_CensusSSM-jpg.webp?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"chartArt":false},"A3":{"id":26565,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/05\/FT_14.05.29_CensusSSM-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/05\/FT_14.05.29_CensusSSM-jpg.webp?w=194&h=110&crop=1","width":194,"height":110,"chartArt":false},"A4":{"id":26565,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/05\/FT_14.05.29_CensusSSM-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/05\/FT_14.05.29_CensusSSM-jpg.webp?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"chartArt":false},"XL":{"id":26565,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/05\/FT_14.05.29_CensusSSM-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/05\/FT_14.05.29_CensusSSM-jpg.webp?w=640&h=300&crop=1","width":640,"height":300,"chartArt":false},"social":{"id":26565,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/05\/FT_14.05.29_CensusSSM-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/05\/FT_14.05.29_CensusSSM-jpg.webp?w=640&h=300&crop=1","width":640,"height":300,"chartArt":false}},"_embeds":[],"watchers":[],"table_of_contents":[],"datacite_doi":"","prc_seo_data":{"title":"Census says it will count same-sex marriages, but with caveats","description":"The new approach reflects the bureau's evolving policy on reporting household relationships, as it tries to keep pace with social change.","og_title":"Census says it will count same-sex marriages, but with caveats","og_description":"The new approach reflects the bureau's evolving policy on reporting household relationships, as it tries to keep pace with social change.","schema_type":"Article","noindex":false,"canonical_url":"","primary_terms":[],"custom_schema":[],"og_image":26565,"indexnow_submitted_at":null,"gsc_index_status":null},"prepublish_checks":{},"apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"relatedPostsOrdered":[],"bylinesOrdered":[{"key":"7b53db5ce9e474084af03313a3ddcfd1","termId":950}],"acknowledgementsOrdered":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/short-read\/14122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/short-read"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/short-read"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14122"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/short-read\/14122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":103596,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/short-read\/14122\/revisions\/103596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14122"},{"taxonomy":"bylines","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bylines?post=14122"},{"taxonomy":"collection","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/collection?post=14122"},{"taxonomy":"datasets","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/datasets?post=14122"},{"taxonomy":"_post_visibility","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_post_visibility?post=14122"},{"taxonomy":"formats","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/formats?post=14122"},{"taxonomy":"_fund_pool","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_fund_pool?post=14122"},{"taxonomy":"languages","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/languages?post=14122"},{"taxonomy":"regions-countries","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regions-countries?post=14122"},{"taxonomy":"research-teams","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-teams?post=14122"},{"taxonomy":"workflow-status","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/workflow-status?post=14122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}