- The Washington Times - Tuesday, March 10, 2015

I do. I do.

About a quarter of the Americans who said it once said it twice (or more), as America remains a “marrying” country, a first-of-its-kind Census Bureau report said Tuesday.

About 32 million people have said “I do” twice, while about 8.6 million more have spoken those words three or more times, said data from the massive American Community Survey, 2008-2012. Those numbers constitute 17.1 percent of all Americans, and slightly more than one-fourth of those who have ever married at all.

Another 125.5 million American adults, or 52.3 percent, have married just once, and the remaining 73.6 million adults have not married, said the bureau’s report, “Remarriage in the United States.”

This snapshot is the first to cite American Community Survey five-year statistics for marriage and remarriage in the United States, including geographic details as well as socioeconomic characteristics. Same-sex couple marriages were not included in the data because, during the time period, these couples were recorded as unmarried partners.

About 3.5 million people fill out the American Community Survey each year.

Americans’ love for marriage was clearly evident: By age 70 and over, 96 percent of men and women say they have said “I do” to someone.

This is a strong indicator that, despite concerns about a “retreat from marriage,” most Americans pursue and achieve this life event, said the report, written by Jamie M. Lewis and Rose M. Kreider.

Moreover, a majority of today’s brides and grooms are first-timers. “In 1990, 54 percent of marriages were the first for both spouses,” said Ms. Lewis.

“Now newlyweds are more likely to be saying ’I do’ for the first time,” she said, noting that 58 percent of recent marriages were to people who weren’t previously married.

The data also showed that while second marriages occur at any age, the highest share of these “second chances” occurred among men in their 60s and among women in their 50s and 60s. Third marriages were most common for both men and women when they were in their 60s.

“Part of what’s going on is that older individuals have just had more time to get married, get divorced and remarry,” said Ms. Lewis. But also the share of remarriages among younger age groups is going down, possibly because people are waiting longer to marry.

The bureau compiled its report from five marriage questions added to the survey in 2008. The questions ask adults if, in the last 12 months, they have been married, widowed or divorced; how many times they have married, and in what year did they last marry.

The Census Bureau is actively considering dropping these marriage questions.

However, family researchers from many political spectrums have strongly objected to such a change, saying there is no comparable national source for marital transitions, especially among subgroups like Asians, millennials, same-sex couples and the elderly.

Tuesday’s nationally representative snapshot found a variety of characteristics correlated with staying married or entering a second marriage:

⦁ Northeast and Midwest states tended to have fewer remarried adults, while Southern and Western states, like Florida, Arkansas, Arizona and Washington, have more. In fact, two Arizona metropolitan areas — Lake Havasu City-Kingman and Prescott — were estimated to have about 40 percent of its ever-married population reporting a second marriage.

⦁ Characteristics associated with being married only once included having children under age 18, an income of $100,000 or more, a bachelor’s degree or higher, being foreign-born and of an Asian ethnicity.

⦁ Having a second marriage was slightly more common among people who are white, have a middle-class income, a high school diploma or some college credits.

⦁ Characteristics of being never-married included being black, biracial and multiracial; not graduating high school; being jobless; living below the poverty line; and renting a home.

• Cheryl Wetzstein can be reached at cwetzstein@washingtontimes.com.

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