New Relationship and Marital Status Questions: A Reflection of Changes to the Social and Legal Recognition of Same-Sex Couples in the U.S

摘要

In August 2009, the Secretary of Commerce directed the Office of Management and Budget to establish a task force to research issues related to the collection and tabulation of marriage and relationship data. One focus of the research was family relationships, particularly with respect to same-sex couples who report being married. This paper reports on the second phase of qualitative research conducted by the Census Bureau under the auspices of the OMB working group. The first phase involved focus groups conducted primarily with persons in cohabiting same-sex relationships. The groups explored the meaning and interpretation of the current decennial Census and American Community Survey relationship and marital status items. Major conclusions were: (1) both items were perceived to be asking about a legal status (2) few same-sex couples that were not legally married chose husband/wife or now married (3) most legally married same-sex couples reported husband/wife and now married (regardless of place of residence), (4) the marital status categories were viewed as inadequate by unmarried same-sex couples, and (5) relationship categories should be re-ordered according to functional equivalence.