Interviewer instructions
Question 8. Marital status (for persons aged 15 years and over)
For persons aged 15 years and over the code is to be marked, which corresponds to one of the prompts listed.
"Never married" should be marked for persons who have never been either in a registered or in a common law (unregistered) marriage.
"Registered marriage" is to be marked for persons presently married, their marriage being registered with the registry office.
"Common law marriage" is to be marked for persons presently married without registration with the registry office.
For those married the serial No. of the spouse within the dwelling is to be entered, i.e. the number indicated against his/her family name in the list of residents in the dwelling (column 1) if the spouse lives in the same household.
"Widowed" is to be marked for persons having been married earlier (whether their marriage registered or not) whose marriage has been stopped because of the death of the spouse and who have not remarried.
"Divorced" is to be marked for persons who have been earlier in a registered marriage, but at the moment are unmarried, their divorce being registered with the registry office.
"Separated" is to be marked for persons who have been earlier in a registered marriage, but at the moment are unmarried, their divorce not being registered with the registry office, as well as for persons who have been earlier in unregistered marriage and at the moment are separated.
For persons under 15 years of age the answer to this question is usually not to be completed. Only if a person questioned is de facto married, the corresponding response should be marked.
