THE NATIONAL SURVEY FOR FAMILY GROWTH (NSFG)

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute Of Child Health & Human Development

Investigators

Abstract

The National Survey of Family Growth is a survey of U.S. men and women of reproductive age that has been conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) since 1973, using a continuous fieldwork design since 2006. The survey provides national estimates concerning factors related to fertility, family formation, family planning, and reproductive health including HIV infection and other sexually transmitted diseases. Prior to transitioning to a continuous fieldwork design, NCHS conducted 6 discrete cycles of the NSFG between 1973 and 2002; NICHD participated in funding four of these, starting in 1982 when the survey first included never-married women: Cycle 3 (1982), Cycle 4 (1988, with a 1990 telephone re-interview), Cycle 5 (1995), and Cycle 6 (2002, the first NSFG to include men). Beginning in 2004, NICHD began to support transition of NSFG from a periodically conducted survey to a continuous data collection design. Apart from a 15-month break in fieldwork to allow for awarding a new contract, NSFG collected data with this continuous fieldwork design from June 2006 through September 2019. Data files were released on a regular basis once sufficient cases had been accumulated. This design benefited NICHD by providing larger samples at more frequent intervals than under the NSFG’s old periodic design, and at the same time maximizing cost efficiency. After a break to award another new contract, continuous data collection began again in January 2022 and is ongoing. Data collected by the NSFG provide essential information for NICHD’s program planning, particularly in program areas related to contraception, fertility and infertility, pregnancy planning, maternal and perinatal health, HIV/STI prevention, and family change. Since its inception, the NSFG has been conducted with women aged 15-44, and men 15-44 were added to the survey in 2002. Beginning in September 2015, the NSFG expanded its age range from 15-44 to 15-49. This age range expansion to include men and women aged 45-49 enhances the substantive value of the survey for describing sexual/reproductive health and family-formation topics, and more closely keeps pace with the aging US population. Data from the first two years of continuous interviewing (2006-2008, n=13,495) were released in May 2010, followed by data from the full four years of interviews conducted in 2006-2010 (n=22,682). After awarding a new contract in 2010, NSFG interviewing resumed in September 2011, with the release of four 2-year data files under this contract, for a total of 42,062 interviews over 8 years. See the NSFG webpage for more details: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nsfg/about_nsfg.htm