Questionnaire Text

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D. Females aged 12 years and over


How many children has [the respondent] born alive who are living in this household?

P40. Boys ____
P41. Girls ____

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The questions in columns P40 to P51 apply to all women and girls aged 12 years and over

146. Answers are required of all women in this category. It does not matter whether or not they are married, single, divorced or separated; whether or not they are still attending school; or their relationship to the head of the household: you must ask the questions of all women and girls aged twelve years and over. The first thing to do is check column P00 to identify all those to whom these questions should be addressed.

147. For males and for girls under twelve years of age, leave columns P40 to P51 blank.

148. Many women do not like answering questions about their children. There are various reasons for this, but it is your job to obtain the answers. It will require firmness, politeness and tact.

149. Ask of all females age 12 and over whether they have borne any live children.

150. A child borne alive is one who cries after birth. The census is concerned only with children borne alive. Do not include stillbirths; that is, children who were born dead and therefore did not cry at the time of birth.

151. If the woman has never borne any live children, write '00' in each of columns P40 to P51.

152. If the woman has borne live children, ask, 'of the children she has borne alive, how many are living in this household?'

153. Write the number of boys who are living in the household in column P40 and the number of girls in column P41. If none of the boys or girls are living in the household, write '00' in the appropriate columns. You should be able to verify this information from column P00. If, for example, the woman has only two boys and two girls, you should write '02' in column P40 and '02' in column P41.

154. Next, of the children borne alive, ask her how many are living elsewhere?'

155. Write the number of boys who are living elsewhere in column P42 and the number of girls in column P43. If none of the boys or girls she has borne alive are living elsewhere, write '00' in the appropriate columns.

156. Include in these columns all the children she has borne alive who are living elsewhere. It may be that they have grown up and married, or have gone off to work, or are living with relatives, or are in a boarding school, and so on. Make sure that none of the children she has borne alive are missed and ask further questions to probe the matter fully, such as, 'are any of your children away, at work, or with relatives?'

157. Then ask, 'of the children you have borne alive, how many have died?'

158. Many people do not talk of the dead and many others find it painful. It is best to ask this question in a matter of fact way and without embarrassment. Please refer to item 150 above for the definition of a live birth.

159. Write the number of boys who have died in column P44 and number of girls in column P45. If none of the boys and girls she has borne have died, write '00' in the appropriate columns.

160. If, in-spite of your best efforts, you cannot obtain this information about the children who have died, code '99' in column P44 and P45. Do not leave any of these columns blank.

161. Before proceeding to columns P46 through P51, probe to know whether the number of children given in columns P40 through P 45 is correct by asking the woman again how many children she has given birth to. If this number differs from the total number in columns P40 through P 45, adjust your entries accordingly.

162. Ask, 'in what year was her last child born?'

163. Record the year of birth in column P47. For the years 1970 to 1989 state the year, but if the child was born before 1970 and the year is not known you may write '1969'. Code the last two digits of the year (e.g., 70 for 1970, 79 for 1979, and so forth).

164. If the child was born in 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988 or 1989, ask, 'in what month of the year was the child born?'

165. Code the month in column P46. Use '01' for January, '02' for February, etc. If the child was born in 1984 or before, you need not code the month of birth. However if the month is known, even for years before 1984, you may code them.

166. Then ask, 'was it a boy or a girl?'

167. Code the sex of the last borne child in column P48. Code '1' for males and '2' for females. If they were male twins, code '3', if female twins code '4', it twins with one of each sex, code '5', code '6' for other multiple births.

168. In column P49 indicate whether the child is still alive. If in column P48 it was indicated that they were twins or multiple births, preference will be given to dead children. If all the children of the above birth categories have died, preference will be given to the one who died latest. If the last born child is alive, and is living with the mother in the household, check that the year of birth agrees with the age of the child given is in column P12. If the dates do not agree, find out what has gone wrong and make the necessary corrections. If the child has died (see column P49), code the month and year of death in columns P50 and P51, respectively.