Same-sex couples in US Census Bureau Data: Who gets counted and why

PWP-CCPR-2010-014

Abstract

This research brief will highlight key findings of a national survey of cohabiting same‐sex couples designed to understand if and how same‐sex couples completed their Census 2010 forms and why they chose the options they did to identify their relationship. A significant amount of scholarly and policy‐focused research on same‐sex couples in the United States has used Census data as a primary data source. With the advent of legal marriage and other forms of recognition for these couples, the research and policy interest in this area has only intensified. As such, it is very important to understand the accuracy of Census Bureau enumerations of same‐sex couples.