Evaluating the Revised Relationship Question

• Activity Number: 138 - Upcoming Changes to the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement
• Type: Invited
• Date/Time: Monday, July 31, 2017 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
• Sponsor: Social Statistics Section
• Author(s): Jennifer M Ortman and Jonathan Vespa and Rose Kreider*
• Companies: U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Census Bureau and US Census Bureau
• Keywords: household relationships ; same-sex couples ; living arrangements ; current population survey ; families

Abstract

Over the last two decades, we've seen dramatic growth in the number of opposite-sex unmarried couples. In 1996, there were almost 3 million, which increased to just over 8 million by 2015. The number with children increased from just over 1 million to just over 3 million. Data from the American Community Survey shows that the number of same-sex couples has also been increasing, including couples with and without children. To meet the Census Bureau's mission to provide quality measures about the nation's people and households, we have been working over the last few decades to improve our measurement of families, with some focus on improving measurement of cohabitation and same-sex couples. We have undertaken extensive research to develop and implement changes to the relationship question and methods for processing the data. In this paper, we will discuss and evaluate the improvements to the way we collect information about household relationships, families, and living arrangements in the Current Population Survey, focusing on measurement of same-sex couples. We will discuss the implications of these changes for our published data and data products.