Interviewer instructions
1.2.3 QUESTIONS FOR PEOPLE AGED 12 AND OLDER
This category is related to household members (men and women) aged 12 years or more. Put a dash or a hyphen for those aged less than 12 years.
23. Marital Status
A person's marital status is his/her state with respect to marriage and in relation to the laws and customs of the country. It divides the population into: single, married, widowed or divorced. Ask household members aged 12 or more the following question about their marital status: "have you ever been married?"
Then write the following in column 23 according to the answer you receive:
- CEL for single (a person who has never married);
- MA for married (a person who has been married at least once, and who is currently in at least one of the marriages). But you should indicate the following for MA:
a. For men: the current number of wives.
Example: MA2 for a married man currently married to 2 wives
MA3 for a married man currently married to 3 wives
b. For women: the number of marriages already contracted, including the current one.
Example: MA1 for a woman who is in her first marriage
MA2 for a woman who is in her second marriage, etc.
- VEU for widow(er) (a person whose only and last existing marriage was dissolved by death.
- DIV for divorced (a person whose only and last existing marriage was dissolved by divorce)
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Marital status always refers to the individual's present status, or to his/her last status.
Special cases:
a. A man married to two wives whose first wife died and who is divorced from his second wife should be recorded as DIV.
b. A man who was previously married to 2 wives but who lost one of them due to death should be recorded as married to one wife (MA1).
c. A man married to 3 wives but who has divorced one wife and whose other wife has died is recorded as married to one wife. [He is recorded as] MAR because there is still an existing marriage.
d. A married man with just one wife, whose wife recently died, is recorded as widowed: VEU.
