Marital patterns are affected by social and economic events, as well as by changes in cultural attitudes and behaviors. Changes in the patterns of marriage and divorce can then affect family life and other interactions. The Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) is one of very few data sources that can provide a comprehensive look at both current and historical marriage and divorce behaviors of men and women in the United States. SIPP data contain a detailed marital history for men and women of all ages, as well as extensive information about the characteristics of adults, their households, and those with whom they live. In addition, information about both husbands and wives is available for people who are currently married.

SIPP has become one of the principal data sources for marriage and divorce statistics, and the leading source of detailed marital history information, since the National Center for Health Statistics no longer publishes detailed information about marriages and divorces. Estimates of indicators such as the characteristics of people who had a recent marital event, the percentage of currently married couples who have reached their fiftieth anniversary, the percentage of men and women who have ever divorced, or the percentage of recent marriages in which both the bride and groom were marrying for the first time are at this point available only from SIPP data. In addition, characteristics such as labor force participation, poverty status, and the presence of children for people with recent marital events are available only from the SIPP and represent socioeconomic characteristics that were never collected in the Vital Statistics system.