Population Census Questions

Fertility indicators.

For all females 15 to 49 years old.
[Questions 24 through 27 were asked of females 15 to 49 years old]

P27. What is [the respondent]'s age at first marriage?

Columns P24 to P27 for All Females 15 to 49 Years old
Columns P24 to P27 are to be accomplished only for females 15 to 49 years old. For all other members, leave these columns blank.
Questions P24 to P27 are designed to collect necessary information for deriving fertility indicators. The fertility indicators are indispensable bases for studying population growth and changes in population's age structure, and their possible implications on the economic and social needs of the population.

P27-Age at First Marriage
Age at first marriage gives information on the woman's entry into first marital union, which exposes her to higher chance of childbearing. Age at first marriage is associated with fertility of women. Women who marry at younger age are more likely to have more children than women who marry at later age.
Ask the respondent the question in P27: "What was [the respondent's] age at first marriage?" only for ever-married females aged 15 to 49 years, that is, those with entries of code "2" (married), "3" (widowed), "4" (divorced/separated), or "5" (common-law/live-in) in P7-Marital Status.

Explain to the respondent that marriage includes either a legal or consensual union (where the man and the woman decide to live together without the benefit of clergy or civil ceremony).
Age at first marriage is the age at which the woman first entered married life or a consensual
union. In a legal marriage, report the age of the woman when the marriage was solemnized. In cases wherein the spouses lived together before a legal marriage, the age to be reported should be the age of the woman when she began to live together with her spouse. In a consensual marriage, it is the age of the woman when she and the man began to live together as husband and wife.