The Census has never counted legally-married same-sex couples even though nearly half of all states recognize same-sex marriage — until now.

Just a week after a Pennsylvania judge ruled the the ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional, Pew Research reported that the Census will no longer automatically count same-sex married couples as "cohabiting partners" as it has been doing for more than two decades. The change will be instituted in the Census household survey to be released in September. 

The change will give a more accurate measure of marriage and family in the United States, where marriage rates have been declining for decades.