U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for February 14: Valentines and Weddings

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

VALENTINES AND WEDDINGS

Profile America — Tuesday, February 14th. While today may not be an official holiday, Valentine's Day is one of the most popular in the year's calendar. Its origins are a mix of legends involving two Christian martyrs, a Roman fertility rite, and the old notion that this is the time of year when the birds choose their mates. What is sure is that Esther Howland of Massachusetts began selling the first mass-produced valentines in the 1840s. The observance also falls in the middle of National Weddings Month. There are about 2.4 million weddings annually in the U.S. — that's over 5,800 per day. About 50 percent of the population over age 15 is currently married. Some 19 men out of 1,000 get married each year; for women, the rate is over 17½ per thousand. You can find more facts about America's people, places and economy, from the American Community Survey, at www.census.gov.

Sources:
Valentines card/accessed 11/25/2016: https://www.mtholyoke.edu/175/gallery/esther-howland 
Weddings month accessed 11/25/2016: http://www.bcls.lib.nj.us/february-national-wedding-month 
Weddings per year/accessed 11/25/2016: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/marriage_divorce_tables.htm 
Married percent/All races/Current Population Survey: http://www.census.gov/hhes/families/files/cps2015/tabA1-all.xls 
Marriage rates per 1,000/t. 1/American Community Survey: http://www.census.gov/prod/2011pubs/acs-13.pdf

Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotion of the U.S. Census Bureau. Statistics and accounts drawn from cited non-Census sources are employed for illustrative or narrative purposes, and are not attested to by the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Audio" in the "Library" pull-down menu). 

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau

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