Interviewer instructions
3. Marital status:
Explanation: Enter whatever your legal marital status is.
"Married" should be marked for persons living in wedlock (not divorced) even if they live separately from their spouse.
"Divorced" should be marked for persons who are not remarried, regardless of whether their former spouse is still living or not.
"Widowed" should be marked for persons whose marriage ended with the death of the spouse and who are not remarried.
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"Single" should be marked for all persons that have never been married.
Persons living in a consensual union mark the marital status that they legally belong to. "Married" should only be marked, if the marriage with the separate living spouse is still legal (not divorced).
The marital status structure was subjected to severe changes through the decrease in marriages and increase in divorces.
Marital status is also important for the projection of the population development (e.g. how many widowed pensioners will accrue in the future).
The year of marriage is gathered as an aid characteristic for family development (married couples).
Unmarried consensual unions are also accounted for in the results, however, indirectly derived from question 7.
