About the National Survey of Family Growth

Cycle 7: A Continuous Survey

June 2009: In late June of 2006, the NSFG began continuous interviewing. The survey is based on a sample of the household population of the United States, 15-44 years of age. Interviews are being done 48 weeks of every year. Each year of interviewing is a nationally representative sample, and samples can be accumulated across years.  Given the continuous nature of the survey, it is being done in about 33 areas (Primary Sampling Units) per year. By the end of 4 years of interviewing, it will be a national sample based on 110 areas. Our plan was to conduct at least 4,400 interviews per year. As of June 2009, over 16,000 interviews have been done.  The first public use data file is expected to be released in late 2009, based on at least 13,000 interviews conducted between 2006 and 2008. After that, data files would be released approximately every two years. This schedule and plan is subject to change based on the availability of funds, whether conditions are favorable for survey work, and other factors. This statement will be updated periodically.

Cycle 6 (2002):

A Survey of Men and Women, 2002: Cycle 6 of the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) was conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), with the participation and funding support of nine other programs of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  Cycle 6 was based on an area probability sample.  The sample represents the household population of the United States, 15-44 years of age.  The survey sample is designed to produce national data, not estimates for individual States.  The contractor for the survey, the Institute for Social Research Center of the University of Michigan, hired and trained over 200 female interviewers for the 2002 NSFG.  In-person interviews were completed with 12,571 respondents 15-44 years of age--7,643 females and 4,928 males. The interviews were voluntary and confidential.  The response rate was 79 percent overall--80 percent for females and 78 percent for males.  The questionnaire for males averaged about 60 minutes in length, while the female interview averaged about 80 minutes.

Cycles 1-5: Surveys of Women

Surveys of Women, 1973-1995:  The NSFG was conducted by NCHS in 1973, 1976, 1982, 1988, and 1995. These surveys were based on personal interviews conducted in the homes of a national sample of women 15-44 years of age in the civilian, noninstitutionalized population of the United States.  The main purpose of the 1973-1995 surveys was to provide reliable national data on marriage, divorce, contraception, infertility, and the health of women and infants in the United States.

Further details on how the surveys were planned and conducted, reports of the findings from the surveys, documentation and codebooks, and contact information to obtain the public-use data files, are available on this Web site.

The Impact of the NSFG

The National Survey of Family Growth, or NSFG, was initially designed to be the national fertility survey of the United States. So its focus was on factors that help to explain trends and group differences in birth rates, such as contraception, infertility, sexual activity, and marriage. In the first 5 cycles of the survey—1973, 1976, 1982, 1988, and 1995—the NSFG was based on samples of women 15-44 years of age (Figure 1). In 2002, the survey was expanded to include a national sample of 4,928 men and 7,643 women. This sample of 12,571 interviews was the largest NSFG ever done. Response rates have been about 79-80% in every cycle. When men were included in the 2002 NSFG, data on behaviors that affect the risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections were expanded, and questions were added on fathers’ involvement with children, and men’s and women’s attitudes toward marriage, children, and sexual activity.

In June 2006, the NSFG began continuous interviewing. See the description of “Cycle 7: A Continuous Survey,” for more details.

The NSFG is used:

• by scholars in the behavioral sciences (e.g., sociology, demography, and economics) to study marriage, divorce, fertility, and family life;
• by scholars in public health to study reproductive, maternal and infant health topics;
• by agencies of the US Department of Health and Human Services, to brief senior officials and to inform program decision-making, in research programs and in health and social service programs.
• by state and local governments to plan health and social service programs;
• by private-sector research and policy analysis organizations, which distribute the information to the public; and
• by the press, to prepare articles on a number of topics related to health and family life.

The impact of the NSFG goes well beyond the more than 600 journal articles, NCHS reports, and book chapters shown in our publication lists. The NSFG’s impact includes behind-the-scenes policy discussions, briefings, and program planning at the federal, state, and local levels. The survey results are also used by people providing health and social services, through government agencies and in private groups.