Comparability — Belarus [top]

All persons under age 15 are coded "never married/single".

Comparability — Finland [top]

The 2010 sample reports legal marital status. The enumeration documents indicate that divorce regulations in Finland do not recognize the concept of legal separation; thus, people who are legally separated on the basis of old divorce provisions (prior to 1 January 1988) and are living apart were considered to be "married". The categories of "married", "divorced", and "widowed" include persons from registered partnerships.

Comparability — France [top]

For 1990 through 2011 the census stipulated that the marital status question applied only to legal marital status.

Consensual unions can be inferred using the ERELATE variable, but only pertain to unions that include the head of household.

Comparability — Germany [top]

The data appear to report legal marriages.

Comparability — Greece [top]

All Greek samples record the person's legal status.

Consensual unions are not recognized, except in the 2011 sample that includes registered partnerships under the "married" category.

Separations are only identified in 2001 and 2011; in earlier samples such persons who had not formally divorced would have been considered married. For these two samples, divorced and separated are combined.

In 2011, divorced and widowed persons include those who were previously in registered partnerships.

Comparability — Hungary [top]

All samples report legal marital status only.

The 2001 and 2011 samples have a de facto spouse-absent category, which would have been included with "married" in previous years. For these two samples, divorced and separated de facto (spouse-absent) are combined.

In 2011, registered cohabiting partners are grouped with "married"; while divorced and widowed persons include the correspondent categories from those who were in registered cohabiting partnerships.

All samples only report legal status in EMARST. In 2001 and 2011, separate information on consensual unions is recorded in CONSENS.

Comparability — Ireland [top]

The data report legal marriages. The divorced/separated are not reported in 1971 or 1979, so they must have been included in either the "married" or "single" categories. The 1981 sample only identifies persons who obtained a divorce in another country in the "divorce/separated" category.

Comparability — Netherlands [top]

The samples identify legal marital status.

Divorced is combined with widowed in the 1960 and 1971 samples, which poses an incompatibility at the first digit of MARST.

Comparability — Poland [top]

The 1978-1988 samples refer to a de facto marital status, while Poland 2002 and 2011 report legal marital status.

In 1978 and 1988, the "married" category includes those persons who entered into marriage even if they are not formally married. Similarly, for these two samples, persons not living together in a marriage are registered as divorced regardless of formalities.

The Poland 1988 and 2002 distinguish between married couples living together from other cases living apart or with an absent spouse. For these two samples, divorced and separated are combined.

In 2002 and 2011, information about common-law partnerships is reported in a separate source variable (de facto marital status) that is recorded in CONSENS.

Persons younger than age 15 are coded as "Never married/single" in the 2002 and 2011 samples.

Comparability — Portugal [top]

All samples but 1981 report de facto marital status as reported by the respondents. The samples combine legal and de facto marriages.

Comparability — Romania [top]

The Romania 2002 and 2011 samples asked a separate question about consensual unions (see CONSENS). This information is not incorporated in EMARST, because it would mask the legal marital status information for the person.

Persons under age 14 are coded "never married/single" in the 1992 and 2002 samples. The marital status question addressed legal status only. There was no response on any census form for separations.

Comparability — Russia [top]

Persons younger than age 16 are coded as "never married/single" in 2002 and 2010.

Comparability — Slovakia [top]

The data for all samples report legal marital status.

Comparability — Slovenia [top]

The data report legal marital status.

Comparability — Spain [top]

All Spanish samples indicate the person's legal status. The Spain 2001 sample has separate information about consensual unions (see CONSENS). This information is not incorporated in EMARST because it would mask the legal marital status information for the person.

In 2001, only persons who resided in households received the question on marital status.

Comparability — Switzerland [top]

All Swiss samples record the person's legal status. Consensual unions are not recognized, except for registered partnerships in 2011. Separations are not recognized in any sample: in these samples, persons who did not formally divorce are considered married. In 2011, dissolved partnerships are included within "divorced/separated and not remarried".

Comparability — Turkey [top]

Marital status reflects defacto rather than legal statuses. Consensual unions are not identified. Separated persons are not identified and are probably recorded as married.

Comparability — United Kingdom [top]

The censuses asked for legal marital status, but in 2001 there was a separate question to identify de facto separations. In 1961, 1971 and 1991, if a person was legally separated but not divorced, they were considered to be married.