Indicator Sources

Indicators included in this report are illustrative and not a direct or exhaustive measure of culture and opportunity.

Jul 20, 2017 17 min read

Marriage

Marriage rate (per 1,000 unmarried women age 15 and older), 1970–1996: U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2001 (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2002), Table 117, http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/01statab/vitstat.pdf (accessed July 10, 2014). Marriage rate, 1997–2012: Calculated by The Heritage Foundation by dividing the annual number of marriages, provided by the National Center for Health Statistics, by the number of unmarried women age 15 and older, provided by the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey, and then multiplying the ratio by 1,000. Marriage rate, 1997: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, “Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Divorces: Provisional Data for 1998,” National Vital Statistics Reports, Vol. 47, No. 21 (June 6, 1999), Table 1, http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr47/nvs47_21.pdf (accessed July 12, 2014). Number of marriages, 1998–1999: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, “Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Divorces: Provisional Data for 1999,” National Vital Statistics Reports, Vol. 48, No. 19 (February 22, 2001), Table 1, http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr48/nvs48_19.pdf (accessed July 12, 2014). Provisional number of marriages and marriage rate, United States, 2000–2015: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Vital Statistics System, “National Marriage and Divorce Rate Trends for 2000–2015,” http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/marriage_divorce_tables.htm (accessed April 4, 2017). Number of unmarried women age 15 and older: U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, “People and Households, Families and Living Arrangements Main, Data, Historical Time Series, Table MS-1,” http://www.census.gov/hhes/families/data/marital.html (accessed March 21, 2017).

Divorce

Divorce rate, 1960–1969: Sally C. Clarke, “Advanced Reports of Final Divorce Statistics, 1989 and 1990,” Monthly Vital Statistics Report, Vol. 43, No. 9 (March 22, 1995), Table 1, http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/mvsr/supp/mv43_09s.pdf (accessed July 12, 2014). Divorce rate, 1970–1999: U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2012 (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2013), Table 78, http://www.census.gov/prod/2011pubs/12statab/vitstat.pdf (accessed July 12, 2014). Provisional number of divorces and annulments and rate, United States, 2000–2015: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Vital Statistics System, “National Marriage and Divorce Rate Trends,” http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/marriage_divorce_tables.htm (accessed April 4, 2017).

Note: Data in this chart are based on divorces per 1,000 total population, including both married and unmarried adults, as well as children. The National Center for Health Statistics used to calculate a more refined divorce rate, based on the number of divorces per 1,000 married women ages 15 and older, but no longer does so. In 1996, the National Center for Health Statistics began to collect only provisional divorce rate data, based on preliminary counts of divorce certificates from states. As of 2005, six states had stopped reporting any divorce statistics: California, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Louisiana, and Minnesota. Thus, population data for these states are also excluded when calculating the divorce rate.

Fertility

Joyce A. Martin, Brady E. Hamilton, Michelle J. K. Osterman, Anne K. Driscoll, and T. J. Mathews, “Births: Final Data for 2015,” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics Reports, Vol. 66, No. 1 (January 5, 2017), Tables 4 and 8, https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr66/nvsr66_01.pdf (accessed February 13, 2017).

Single-Parent Households

U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, “Families and Living Arrangements: Living Arrangements of Children,” Table CH-1, http://www.census.gov/hhes/families/data/children.html (accessed March 22, 2017), and “Families and Living Arrangements: 2016: Children (C table series),” Table C3, https://www.census.gov/hhes/families/data/cps2016C.html (accessed March 22, 2017).

Note: The percentage of children in single-parent households was calculated by dividing the total number of children in one-parent households by all children in the population. Prior to 2007, children living with unwed cohabiting parents were included with children living in single-parent households. Starting in 2007, the U.S. Census included children living with unwed cohabiting parents with “two-parent” households. However, this Index counts children living in unwed cohabiting households with children living in single-parent households because social science research shows that outcomes for children living in cohabiting households are more similar to those for children living with single parents than they are to those for children living with married parents.

Teen Drug Use

Lloyd D. Johnston, Patrick M. O’Malley, Richard A. Miech, Jerald G. Bachman, and John E. Schulenberg, Monitoring the Future: National Survey Results on Drug Use, 1975–2016, Overview: Key Findings on Adolescent Drug Use (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, Institute for Social Research, January 2017), Table 7, http://www.monitoringthefuture.org/pubs/monographs/mtf-overview2016.pdf (accessed February 22, 2017); Richard A. Miech, Lloyd D. Johnston, Patrick M. O’Malley, Jerald G. Bachman, John E. Schulenberg, and Megan E. Patrick, Monitoring the Future: National Survey Results on Drug Use, 1975–2016, Volume I, Secondary School Students (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, Institute for Social Research, June 2017), Table 5-3, http://www.monitoringthefuture.org/pubs/monographs/mtf-vol1_2016.pdf (accessed February 22, 2017).

Abstinence Among High Schoolers

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, High School YRBS, “Youth Online,” https://nccd.cdc.gov/Youthonline/App/Default.aspx (accessed December 6, 2016). Select “Sexual Behaviors,” “Ever had sexual intercourse,” “All Years,” “12th Grade.”

Abortion Rate

1973–1990: Rachel K. Jones and Jenna Jerman, “Abortion Incidence and Service Availability in the United States, 2011,” Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, Vol. 46, No. 1 (March 2014), Table 1, https://www.guttmacher.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/journals/psrh.46e0414.pdf (accessed June 10, 2016). 1991–2008: Rachel K. Jones and Kathryn Kooistra, “Abortion Incidence and Access to Services in the United States, 2008,” Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, Vol. 43, No. 1 (March 2011), Table 1, http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/psrh/full/4304111.pdf (accessed June 10, 2016). 1995–2014: Rachel K. Jones and Jenna Jerman, “Abortion Incidence and Service Availability in the United States, 2014,” Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, Vol. 4, No. 1 (January 2017), Table 1, https://www.guttmacher.org/sites/default/files/article_files/abortion-incidence-us.pdf (accessed February 2017).

Religious Attendance

General Social Survey, “GSS 1972–2016 Cross-Sectional Cumulative Data (Release 1, March 29, 2017),” http://gss.norc.org/getthedata/Pages/Home.aspx (accessed April 4, 2017). Variable tables obtained using SDA 4.0 “Selected Study: GSS 1972–2016 Cumulative Datafile,” http://sda.berkeley.edu/sdaweb/analysis/?dataset=gss16 (accessed April 10, 2017). Attendance percentages are estimated using the variables “year” (row) and “attend” (column), using the composite weight. “Weekly” attendance includes respondents who report attending “nearly every week” or more frequently; “monthly” attendance includes those who report attending “once” or “several times” a month; “yearly” attendance includes those who report attending “several times a year”; and “rarely/never” attendance includes those who report attending “once a year” or less frequently.

Note: GSS data are surveyed biannually.

Violent Crime Rate

1993–2011: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Uniform Crime Reports, “Crime in the United States 2012,” Table 1, “Crime in the United States by Volume and Rate per 100,000 inhabitants, 1993–2012,” http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2012/crime-in-the-u.s.-2012/tables/1tabledatadecoverviewpdf/table_1_crime_in_the_united_states_by_volume_and_rate_per_100000_inhabitants_1993-2012.xls. (accessed June 23, 2014). 2013–2014: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Uniform Crime Reports, “Crime in the United States 2014,” Table 1, “Crime in the United States by Volume and Rate per 100,000 inhabitants, 1995–2014,” https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2014/crime-in-the-u.s.-2014/tables/table-1 (accessed February 29, 2016). 2014–2015, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Uniform Crime Reports, “Crime in the United States 2015,” Table 1, “Crime in the United States by Volume and Rate per 100,000 inhabitants, 1996–2015,” https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2015/crime-in-the-u.s.-2015/tables/table-1 (accessed December 6, 2016).

Volunteer

News release, “Volunteering in the United States, 2006,” U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 10, 2007, http://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/volun_01102007.pdf (accessed June 2, 2016); news release, “Volunteering in the United States—2011,” U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, February 22, 2012, http://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/volun_02222012.htm (accessed June 2, 2016); news release, “Volunteering in the United States—2015,” U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, February 25, 2016, http://www.bls.gov/news.release/volun.nr0.htm (accessed February 29, 2016).

Labor Force Participation Rate

U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, and U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, http://www.bls.gov/data/, multi-screen data search (accessed February 29, 2016).

Unwed Birth Rate

All racial groups 2015: Joyce A. Martin, Brady E. Hamilton, Michelle J. K. Osterman, Anne K. Driscoll, and T. J. Mathews, “Births: Final Data for 2015,” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics Reports, Vol. 66, No. 1 (January 5, 2017), Table 14, https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr66/nvsr66_01.pdf (February 14, 2017). All racial groups, 2014: Brady E. Hamilton, Joyce A. Martin, Michelle J. K. Osterman, Sally C. Curtin, and T. J. Mathews, “Births: Final Data for 2014,” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics Reports, Vol. 64, No. 12 (December 23, 2015), Table 14, http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr64/nvsr64_12.pdf (accessed February 29, 2016). All racial groups, 2013: Joyce A. Martin, Brady E. Hamilton, Michelle J. K. Osterman, Sally C. Curtin, and T. J. Mathews, “Births: Final Data for 2013,” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics Reports, Vol. 64, No. 1 (January 15, 2015), Table 14, http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr64/nvsr64_01.pdf (accessed May 12, 2015). All racial groups, 2012: Joyce A. Martin, Brady E. Hamilton, Michelle J. K. Osterman, Sally C. Curtin, and T. J. Mathews, “Births: Final Data for 2012,” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics Reports, Vol. 62, No. 9 (December 30, 2013), Table 14, http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr62/nvsr62_09.pdf (accessed June 2, 2016). All racial groups, 2011: Joyce A. Martin, Brady E. Hamilton, Stephanie J. Ventura, Michelle J. K. Osterman, and T. J. Mathews, “Births: Final Data for 2011,” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics Reports, Vol. 62, No. 1 (June 28, 2013), Table 14, http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr62/nvsr62_01.pdf (accessed July 14, 2014). All races; White, non-Hispanic; Black, non-Hispanic; Hispanic, 1993–2010: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics System, VitalStats, “Demographic Characteristics of Mother,” http://205.207.175.93/VitalStats/ReportFolders/ReportFolders.aspx (accessed July 14, 2014). Black, non-Hispanic, 1990: Child Trends Databank, “Appendix 1, Percentage of All Births that Were to Unmarried Women, by Race and Hispanic Origin, and Age, Selected Years, 1960–2011,” July 2013, http://www.childtrends.org/?indicators=births-to-unmarried-women (accessed June 22, 2016). All races, 1970–1992; White, 1970–1989; White, non-Hispanic, 1990–1992; Black, 1970–1989; Hispanic, 1990–1992: Stephanie J. Ventura and Christine A. Bachrach, “Nonmarital Childbearing in the United States 1940–99,” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics Reports, Vol. 48, No. 16 (October 18, 2000), Table 4 at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr48/nvs48_16.pdf (accessed July 14, 2014).

Self-Sufficiency

1959–2015: U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplements. Historical Poverty Tables–People and Families, Table 2, “Poverty Status of People, by Family Relationship, Race, and Hispanic Origin: 1959–2015, https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/income-poverty/historical-poverty-people.html (accessed December 6, 2016). 1947–1958: Gordon Fisher, “Estimates of the Poverty Population Under the Current Official Definition for Years Before 1959,” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, 1986.

Total Welfare Spending

Heritage Foundation research based on U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Ways and Means, Green Book: Background Material and Data on Programs Within the Jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways and Means, July 15, 1994, http://greenbook.waysandmeans.house.gov/sites/greenbook.waysandmeans.house.gov/files/Letter%20of%20Transmittal.pdf (accessed June 10, 2016); Karen Spar, “Cash and Noncash Benefits for Persons with Limited Income: Eligibility Rules, Recipient and Expenditure Data FY2002–FY2004,” Congressional Research Service Report for Congress, March 27, 2006, https://file.wikileaks.org/file/crs/RL33340.pdf (accessed June 24, 2014), and earlier editions, 1976 to 2005; U.S. Office of Management and Budget, Budget of the United States Government (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, various years); U.S. Office of Management and Budget, Budget of the United States Government: Historical Tables (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, various years), https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Historicals (accessed June 2, 2016); Peter Germanis and Richard Bavier, eds., Up from Dependency: A New National Public Policy Assistance Strategy, Supplement 1: The National Public Assistance System, Vol. 2: A Compendium of Public Assistance Programs: Major Cash, Food, and Housing Programs, Executive Office of the President, Interagency Low-Income Opportunity Advisory Board, September 1987, http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED316589 (accessed June 10, 2016); Ida C. Merriam and Alfred M. Skolnik, Social Welfare Expenditures Under Public Programs in the United States, 1929–66, Social Security Administration, Office of Research and Statistics Research Report No. 25, 1968, https://archive.org/details/socialwelfareexp00merr (June 2, 2016); and Social Security Administration, Social Security Bulletin, various issues, https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/index.html (accessed June 2, 2016).

Subsidized Public Housing

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research, “Assisted Housing: National and Local, Picture of Subsidized Households,” 1996–2016, http://www.huduser.org/portal/datasets/assthsg.html (accessed June 2, 2017).

Note: There is a gap in annual data from this set prior to 2004.

Food Stamp Participation

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, “Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Costs (Data as of May 5, 2017),” https://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/pd/SNAPsummary.pdf (accessed June 1, 2017).

TANF Participation

1961–2013: U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Ways and Means, Green Book: Background Material and Data on Programs Within the Jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways and Means, 2014, Table 7-9, http://greenbook.waysandmeans.house.gov/sites/greenbook.waysandmeans.house.gov/files/Table%207-9.pdf (accessed June 10, 2016). 2014–2016: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance, Data and Reports, TANF Caseload Data, http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ofa/programs/tanf/data-reports (accessed December 6, 2016).

TANF Work Participation Rate

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance, Work Participation Rates, 1997–2015, https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ofa/resource-library/search?area[2377]=2377#?page=1&keyword[0]=Work%20Participation%20Rate%20%28WPR%29&area[2377]=2377&type[3084]=3084&ajax=1 (accessed December 6, 2016). Estimate for 2015 excludes households in 12 states receiving token payments. See pp. 58–59 for Heritage analysis.

Reading Proficiency

U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, and 2015 Reading Assessments, http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/naepdata/report.aspx?p=2-RED-2-20153,20133,20113,20093,20073,20053,20033,20003,20002,19983,19982,19942,19922-RRPCM-TOTAL-NT-MN_MN-Y_J-0-0-5 (accessed March 21, 2016).

Note: Previous editions of the Index of Culture and Opportunity used NAEP long-term trend data for 17-year-olds’ reading proficiency. The infrequency of updates of those data prompted this year’s switch to the more regularly released NAEP data for 8th-grade reading proficiency. Per NAEP policy, accommodations were not permitted for the years 1992 and 1994.

Charter School Enrollment

2000–2012: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics: 2013, Table 216.30, “Number and Percentage Distribution of Public Elementary and Secondary Students and Schools, by Traditional or Charter School Status and Selected Characteristics: Selected years, 1999–2000 Through 2011–12,” http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d13/tables/dt13_216.30.asp?current=yes (accessed February 24, 2015). 2013–2015: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics: 2015, Table 216.20, “Number and Enrollment of Public Elementary and Secondary Schools, by School Level, Type, and Charter and Magnet Status: Selected Years, 1990–91 Through 2014–15,” https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d16/tables/dt16_216.20.asp?current=yes asp (accessed February 25, 2017).

Private School Choice Participation

Matt Frendewey, Krista Carney, Whitney Marcavage, Paul Dauphin, Kim Martinez, and Kimberly Sawatka, School Choice Yearbook 2015–2016, American Federation for Children Growth Fund, 2016, http://afcgrowthfund.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/2015-16-School-Choice-Yearbook-4_27.pdf (accessed June 2, 2017).

High School Graduation Rate

1970–2012: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics: 2013, Table 219.10, “High School Graduates, by Sex and Control of School: Selected Years, 1869–70 Through 2023–24,” http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d13/tables/dt13_219.10.asp?current=yes (accessed February 25, 2015). 2013: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics: 2015, Table 219.35, “Public High School Averaged Freshman Graduation Rate (AFGR), by State or Jurisdiction: Selected Years, 1990–91 Through 2012–13,” http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d15/tables/dt15_219.35.asp (accessed February 29, 2016).

Student Loan Debt

College Board, “Trends in Student Aid 2016,” Trends in Higher Education Series, 2016, Figure 13, “Average Cumulative Debt Levels in 2015 Dollars: Bachelor’s Degree Recipients at Four-Year Institutions, 1999–00 to 2014–15, Selected Years,” https://trends.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/2016-trends-student-aid.pdf (accessed June 5, 2017).

Employment-to-Population Ratio

Unemployment Rate

Job Openings Rate

U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, http://www.bls.gov/data/, multi-screen data search (accessed February 15, 2017).

Job Hires Rate

U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, http://www.bls.gov/data/, multi-screen data search (accessed February 15, 2017).

Money Taxed Away by Federal Government

U.S. Office of Management and Budget, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2018: Historical Tables, Table 1.2, “Summary of Receipts, Outlays, and Surpluses or Deficits (–) as Percentages of GDP: 1930–2022,” http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Historicals (accessed June 12, 2017).

Start-Up Job Share

U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, “Business Dynamics Statistics (BDS) Data Tables: Firm Characteristics: Firm Age,” http://www.census.gov/ces/dataproducts/bds/data_firm.html (accessed June 12, 2017). Total employment: U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, “Business Dynamics Statistics (BDS) Data Tables: Firm Characteristics: Economy Wide,” http://www.census.gov/ces/dataproducts/bds/data_firm.html (accessed June 12, 2017).

Major Federal Regulations

U.S. Office of Management and Budget, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, “Unified Agenda and Regulatory Plan Search Criteria,” http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaAdvancedSearch (accessed June 1, 2017); James L. Gattuso and Diane Katz, “Red Tape Rising 2016: Obama Regs Top $100 Billion Annually,” Heritage Foundation Backgrounder No. 3015, May 23, 2016, Chart 4, http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2016/05/red-tape-rising-2016-obama-regs-top-100-billion-annually.

Economic Freedom

Terry Miller and Anthony B. Kim, 2017 Index of Economic Freedom (Washington: The Heritage Foundation, 2017), http://www.heritage.org/index/country/unitedstates.

NOTE: Data for each indicator are drawn from publicly available sources. Each indicator used the most recently available data as of March 2017. Wherever possible, the Index uses annually updated data. The change over a period of years is reported for each of the indicators. For most indicators, this report includes 10-year, five-year, and one-year changes. The only exceptions are those for which annual data are not available, and those exceptions are noted on their charts. For three indicators—the percentage that attends religious services weekly, the percentage of sexually experienced 12th-graders, and reading proficiency of 8th-grade students—only biannual data were available. One indicator—charter school enrollment—transitioned from biannual to annual frequency in 2010. Indicators included in this report are illustrative and not a direct or exhaustive measure of culture and opportunity.