Interviewer instructions
Column (9) Marital status
Concept and definitions
An unmarried person is a person who has not yet been legally married either in a civil or traditional marriage ceremony.
Married:
a) Persons who are bound in marriage with a wife or husband through a civil or traditional marriage ceremony and now are living together or separated for less than three months.
b) A man and a woman who have been together as husband and wife for a long time but have never conducted a marriage ceremony but are considered married.
Widow: a woman whose husband has died and has not married again
Widower: a man whose wife has died and has not married again.
Divorced: those husbands and wives who have divorced or separated from one another, [whose spouses] are still living, and have not married again.
Married living separately: those who are still married, but who have been living separately for 3 (three) or more consecutive months.
Method of filling in the form
The way to fill in the answers to the question should be as follows:
[p.12]
A5 "Is (mention name of household member) unmarried, married or ever married?"
a. If the answer is unmarried, fill in code "1"
b. If the answer is married (still married), ask whether he/she is now living together with his/her wife/husband.
- If still living with wife/husband, fill in code "2"
- If living apart from wife/husband asks how long they have been separated.
- If not yet 3 months, they will still be considered married, so fill in code "2"
- If separated for 3 month or more, then they will be considered married living separately, so fill in code "5".
c. If the answered is ever married, then ask "Are they divorced and is the former spouse still living?"
- If they are divorced and spouse is alive fill in code "4" (divorced)
- If divorced and spouse has died, then: widow (woman) or widower (man)
Fill in code "3".
