Table 4.

Change in Marital Status, 1950–2000

Year	a. Marital Status Distribution (%)							N
	Total	Married	Spouse Absent	Separated	Divorced	Widowed	Never Married
1950	100.0	63.9	2.7	1.9	2.2	8.2	21.1	111,513,358
2000	100.0	51.3	3.1	2.2	9.8	6.6	27.1	221,167,389
Change	0.0	−12.6	0.4	0.3	7.6	−1.6	6.0
		b. Change in Percentage Married, 1950–2000
		Standardization			Decomposition
		2000	1950		Difference	%
Observed Percentage		51.29	63.92		−12.63	100.0
		Composition Effects
Total for Composition					0.02	−0.1
Age		57.32	57.12		0.20	−1.6
15–29		8.75	10.38		−1.63	12.9
30–44		21.45	21.45		0.01	−0.1
45–59		16.47	16.01		0.46	−3.6
60–74		8.01	8.01		0.00	0.0
75+		2.64	1.27		1.36	−10.8
Sex		57.13	57.31		−0.18	1.4
Male		28.47	28.97		−0.50	4.0
Female		28.66	28.34		0.32	−2.5
		Percentage Distribution Effects
Total for Percentage		50.89	63.53		−12.64	100.1
Age		25.44	31.77		−6.32	50.1
15–29		3.03	6.53		−3.50	27.7
30–44		9.36	12.09		−2.73	21.6
45–59		7.72	8.53		−0.81	6.4
60–74		4.21	3.80		0.42	−3.3
75+		1.12	0.82		0.30	−2.4
Sex		25.44	31.77		−6.32	50.1
Male		12.77	15.93		−3.16	25.0
Female		12.68	15.84		−3.16	25.0