Provide Benefits to Spouses and Survivors

We ask about how many times you have been married to help federal agencies plan and fund programs with spousal benefits, including veteran and social security programs, and help communities determine where gaps in benefits and services might exist.

Provide Assistance to Families

We want to know about families, particularly blended and single-parent families, along with data about the presence of children, labor force status, and poverty status, to help communities:

• Enroll eligible families in programs designed to assist them, such as the Children's Health Insurance Program.
• Qualify for grants to fund these programs.
• Evaluate programs like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).

Understand Changing Households

We ask about marital status to help us understand marriage trends (whether people are marrying later in life, not getting married, or marrying again), in combination with information about age, presence of children, income, etc., to help communities understand if the available housing, job training, rental assistance, and administrative services and programs are meeting residents' needs during their major life changes. These data also help the federal government plan for the future. For example, the Social Security Administration estimates future program needs based on the current relationships of working people.