Tagged: U.S. Census

New U.S. Census Bureau figures show the number of Illinois households run by same-sex couples has jumped nearly 42 percent in the last decade.

That's from 22,887 in 2000 to 32,469 last year.

The trend in Illinois mirrors those nationwide and that of the data released recently on neighboring state Missouri. Experts and advocates say social attitudes toward same-sex couples are changing.

The number of Missouri households led by same-sex partners has increased by more than 60 percent over the past decade.

New figures from the U.S. Census Bureau show Missouri had more than 15,000 households led by someone living with a same-sex partner. Of those, slightly more than 7,000 involved male partners and 8,200 were female partners. There were children in about one-quarter of those households.

The latest round of population information was released late Wednesday.