Family Facts: Social Science Research on Family, Society & Religion

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This finding looks at the relationship between marital status and abuse rates.

Married mothers were less likely to suffer abuse than never-married mothers. In fact, even when the very high rates of abuse of separated and divorced mothers were added into the statistic, the rates of abuse among mothers who had ever been married were still lower than the rates of abuse among women who had never married and those who were cohabiting. Among mothers who were currently married or had ever been married, the rate of abuse was 38.5 per 1,000 mothers. Among mothers who have never been married the rate was 81 per 1,000 mothers.

Sample or Data Description
Data come from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS).

Source
"Marriage: Still the Safest Place for Women and Children"
Rector, Robert E.
Fagan, Patrick F., and Johnson, Kirk A.
Heritage Foundation Backgrounder (Working Paper) Vol. No. 1732, Number . , 2004. Page(s) 2-3.

FindingID: 7349