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livus ,
@livus@kbin.social avatar

That question about single married divorced widowed, is that how the US still collects demographic data?

It seems odd, given the choices in other sections reflect modern life more.

Peacemeal12 OP ,
@Peacemeal12@kbin.social avatar

Yes, I was going to add "complicated" and maybe other options, but ultimately I decided not to but maybe I should? This was a generated question so that should answer your question.

I think though if it's of interest of people maybe I should. What do you think?

snooggums ,
@snooggums@kbin.social avatar

Single, married, divorced, and widowed are legal concepts that cover everything that can without being overcomplicated with a million personal preferences and 'complicated' is meaningless without every single unique person's context.

Or add a separate question about whether they feel their situation is more complicated than that without muddling clear answers on legal status.

livus ,
@livus@kbin.social avatar

I guess this must apply to the society you and @Peacemeal12 live in, for sure. But I was actually talking about legal terms.

Where I live, civil unions and common law (de facto) relationships of more than 2 years have the exact same legal standing as marriage.

So the question usually includes De Facto, and Married or in a Civil Union.

snooggums ,
@snooggums@kbin.social avatar

If they are the same as marriage then that is a distinction without a difference.

livus ,
@livus@kbin.social avatar

Depends on the purpose of the demographics.

I think collecting the stats on it first is probably a big part of why we slowly changed our laws to give them all the same rights - when we saw how many people were being affected.

livus ,
@livus@kbin.social avatar

@Peacemeal12 I wasn't thinking about "complicated" and stuff like that.

It's just the usual legal category for my relationship in my own country was missing and I was surprised it must be still like that in the US.

Peacemeal12 OP ,
@Peacemeal12@kbin.social avatar

I had to switch platforms for the survey, check it out: https://forms.office.com/r/Xadjwmt2Gm

s6original ,
@s6original@lemmy.world avatar

I agree with you and I live in the US. I’ve been single for 20 years…but I was married before that so I’m divorced. I guess you can never be single again.

FaceDeer ,
@FaceDeer@kbin.social avatar

Perhaps a better option would have been "deflowered."

Peacemeal12 OP ,
@Peacemeal12@kbin.social avatar

New and better survey link: https://forms.office.com/r/Xadjwmt2Gm

FaceDeer ,
@FaceDeer@kbin.social avatar

"Deflowered" isn't an option. :(

livus ,
@livus@kbin.social avatar

Yeah it's weird that you don't get to be single even though you are.

I haven't been single for over 20 years but I'm also not married or divorced or widowed.

s6original ,
@s6original@lemmy.world avatar

The only way to get rid of the divorce stigma is to get married again. I already used that trick once.

Peacemeal12 OP ,
@Peacemeal12@kbin.social avatar

New survey link https://forms.office.com/r/Xadjwmt2Gm

Catch42 ,
@Catch42@kbin.social avatar

Yep, though the single option is often written as single/never married so that it's more clear. We don't have common law marriages (except a few states) so those 4 categories cover every situation, though without much detail.

livus ,
@livus@kbin.social avatar

We don't have common law marriages (except a few states)

Is that likely to change? I would have thought it would be big on human rights activists' agendas over there.

Catch42 ,
@Catch42@kbin.social avatar

I don't think so? I'm struggling to think of how it would enhance human rights. Isn't it the same as regular marriage without the trip to the local court? I always thought other countries had it as a penalty so that couples couldn't use cohabitating but not getting married as a tax loophole.

livus ,
@livus@kbin.social avatar

It's a human rights issue because of things like property law, adoption, next of kin rights. Sometimes people (often women) can be left financially vulnerable, especially if children are involved, if their relationship is not recognised under the law.

Couples don't get tax advantages over single people where I live either, so that part's a non issue.

Peacemeal12 OP ,
@Peacemeal12@kbin.social avatar

I had a updated the survey to a better platform, and included more options. :) https://forms.office.com/r/Xadjwmt2Gm

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