National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) Series

collection: series

Investigator(s): National Center for Health Statistics

Studies

7

Variables

34,303

Publications

464

About this Collection

The National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), sponsored by the National Center for Health Statistics, United States Department of Health and Human Services, is a multipurpose survey based on personal interviews with a national sample of women (all cycles) and men (beginning with Cycle VI) 15-44 years of age in the civilian noninstitutionalized population of the United States. The Survey's main function is to collect data on factors affecting pregnancy and women's health in the United States. NSFG surveys were conducted in 1973 (Cycle I), 1976 (Cycle II), 1982 (Cycle III), 1988 and 1990 (Cycle IV), and 1995 (Cycle V) and 2002 (Cycle VI). The NSFG supplements and complements the data from the National Vital Statistics System on births, marriage and divorce, fetal death, and infant mortality. It is also a significant part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's public health surveillance for women, infants, and children -- particularly in regard to contraception, infertility, childbearing, and teenage pregnancy. Topics covered in the series include the number of children women have had and the number they expect to have in the future, intended and unintended births, first sexual intercourse and partners, marriage, cohabitation, impaired fecundity, sterilization operations, breastfeeding, maternity leave, child care, adoption, stepchildren, foster children, health insurance coverage, family planning, and health conditions and behavior, including smoking by women 15-44 years of age, HIV testing, pelvic inflammatory disease, and sex education. Beginning with Cycle VI corresponding issues for men were investigated.

Studies

7 results

National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), United States, 2011-2019

This catalog record includes detailed variable-level descriptions, enabling data discovery and comparison. The data are not archived at ICPSR. Users should consult the data owners (via the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) website) directly for details on obtaining the data.

The National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) gathers information on pregnancy and births, marriage and cohabitation, infertility, use of contraception, family life, and general and reproductive health. The survey sample is designed to produce national data, not estimates for individual states. Beginning in 1973, NSFG was designed to be nationally representative of ever-married women 15-44 years of age in the civilian, non-institutionalized population of the United States (household population). Later sample changes to NSFG include:

  • Interviewing women aged 15-44 regardless of marital experience (1982)
  • Interviewing an independent sample of men aged 15-44 (2002)
  • Expanding the age range for women and men to 15-49 (2015)
    • Grandparent-Parent-Adult Child triplets: ~1,400

For the 2011-2019 continuous interviewing period, four sets of 2-year public-use data files were released:

  • 2011-2013 NSFG: 10,416 respondents aged 15-44 (5,601 women and 4,815 men)
  • 2013-2015 NSFG: 10,205 respondents aged 15-44 (5,699 women and 4,506 men)
  • 2015-2017 NSFG: 10,094 respondents aged 15-49 (5,554 women and 4,540 men)
  • 2017-2019 NSFG: 11,347 respondents aged 15-49 (6,141 women and 5,206 men)

Public-use data files and related documentation, including questionnaires, codebooks, and design and operations reports, can be found for each release on the NSFG Questionnaires, Datasets, and Related Documentation page.

National Survey of Family Growth, Cycle IV, 1988

The National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) Cycle IV interviews covered respondents' pregnancy histories, past and current use of contraception, ability to bear children, use of medical services for family planning, infertility, and prenatal care, marital histories, and associated cohabiting unions. Data on occupation and labor force participation and on a wide range of social, economic, and demographic characteristics are also presented. Cycle IV added questions about AIDS and cohabitation and asked detailed questions on adoption and sexually transmitted diseases.

National Survey of Family Growth, Cycle V, 1995

The NSFG Cycle V interviews have been divided into two files. The Respondent File (Part 1) contains one record for each woman in the survey, while the Interval File (Part 2) contains one record for each completed pregnancy experienced by a woman in the survey. An interval can be defined as one of the following: the time between a first intercourse at last contact (in 1988) and a pregnancy that ended after last contact, or the time between a pregnancy that ended before last contact and one that was in progress at the time of the interview. Part 1 offers data on respondents' marital histories, education, family background, sex education, births and pregnancies, first sexual intercourse, sterilizing operations, contraceptive histories, family planning services, infertility services, births -- intended and unexpected, adoption, sexually transmitted diseases/AIDS, religion, race/ethnicity, employment/occupation, income, and insurance. Part 2 supplies data on outcomes of pregnancies and other pregnancy-related information, use of birth control methods during intervals, and "wantedness" of pregnancies.
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