---
kind: "section"
citation: "5 U.S.C. § 7202"
title: "5"
title_heading: "Government Organization and Employees"
number: "7202"
heading: "Marital status"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/5/7202"
units:
  - "Part III — Employees"
  - "Subpart F — Labor-Management and Employee Relations"
  - "Chapter 72 — Antidiscrimination; Right to Petition Congress"
  - "Subchapter I — Antidiscrimination in Employment"
---

# §7202. Marital status

- (a) The President may prescribe rules which shall prohibit, as nearly as conditions of good [administration](/usc/5/9801.md?p=1) warrant, discrimination because of marital status in an [Executive agency](/usc/5/6501.md?p=2) or in the competitive [service](/usc/5/8401.md?p=26).
- (b) Regulations prescribed under any provision of this title, or under any other provision of law, granting benefits to [employees](/usc/5/4701.md?p=a-2), shall provide the same benefits for a married female [employee](/usc/5/4701.md?p=a-2) and her spouse and children as are provided for a married male [employee](/usc/5/4701.md?p=a-2) and his spouse and children.
- (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any provision of law providing a benefit to a male Federal [employee](/usc/5/4701.md?p=a-2) or to his spouse or family shall be deemed to provide the same benefit to a female Federal [employee](/usc/5/4701.md?p=a-2) or to her spouse or family.

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 89–554, Sept. 6, 1966, 80 Stat. 523, § 7152; Pub. L. 92–187, § 3, Dec. 15, 1971, 85 Stat. 644; renumbered § 7202, Pub. L. 95–454, title VII, § 703(a)(1), Oct. 13, 1978, 92 Stat. 1216.)

## Notes

| Historical and Revision Notes |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Derivation | U.S. Code | Revised Statutes and<br>Statutes at Large |
|  | 5 U.S.C. 633(2)6 (less 1st sentence). | July 26, 1937, ch. 522, 50 Stat. 533. |

The authority of the President to prescribe rules is added on authority of former section 633(1), which is carried into section 3302. The section is rewritten as a general prohibition instead of specifying each of the personnel actions to which the prohibition applies. The words “in an Executive agency or in the competitive service” are added for clarity. The sentence “All Acts or parts of Acts inconsistent herewith are repealed.” is omitted as unnecessary.

Standard changes are made to conform with the definitions applicable and the style of this title as outlined in the preface to the report.

### Editorial Notes

### Amendments

1978—Pub. L. 95–454, renumbered section 7152 of this title as this section.

1971—Pub. L. 92–187 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a) and added subsecs. (b) and (c).