Section A
(12 years and over)
11. Marital status
Is [the respondent] currently married?
[] 1 Married
[] 2 Living together
[] 3 Never married
[] 4 Separated
[] 5 Divorced
[] 6 Widowed
Column A11: Marital Status
Is [the respondent] currently married?
Enter the appropriate one-digit code in the shaded area:
1 Married: A person should be regarded as married if he/she has been through any form of marriage ceremony, whether tribal, civil, religious or other, and is still married.
2 Living Together: A man and a woman may "live together" like husband and wife (even if they do not stay together in the same locality) without having gone through any form of marriage ceremony.
[p.26]
3 Never Married: A person who has never gone through any type of formal or informal marriage (tribal, civil, religious or other) and does not consider that he/she is presently "living together" with anyone is to be coded as never married.
4 Separated: A person who has been formally married should be regarded as separated if he/she is living apart from his/her spouse by Court order, or by mutual or unilateral decision.
5 Divorced: A person should be regarded as divorced if his/her marriage has ended. If the person has remarried then he/she is to be coded 1, as married.
6 Widowed: This means that either the husband or the wife has died and the surviving partner has not remarried. If the surviving partner has remarried he/she is coded 1, as married.
[Diagram on page 26 omitted]
[p.27]
In the sample questionnaire on page 26, James and Anne are coded as living together (code 2) in column A11. Mimi and Molelo are under 12 years old, so the question does not apply to them and dashes are entered. Anthony and David have never been married, so they are coded 3, while Thembe was widowed a few years ago and is coded 6.
Note that James had indicated to the enumerator that Anne was his spouse, yet, in response to the question on marital status, he said that they were living together, not married, since they had never formally married. You should accept what people tell you concerning their marital status and simply record their response; do not change the relationship code in A2. If the respondent tells you that the head and his/her "spouse" are "living together".