8. Marital Status

These questions, 5 to 12 provide some basic characteristics about the individual; and are to be answered for all members of the population. (Enumerators assigned to institutions will be given special instructions for this and the following sections).

37. Question 8 - Marital status

Emphasis here is placed on the presence of legal sanction of the association. Marital status carries a five-fold classification as follows:

Never married - This category covers all individuals 14 years or less as well as all persons of higher ages who have never been married, either formally or, in the case of East Indians in Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana, through customary marriage ceremonies.

Married - This covers all persons formally married, whether or not they are living with the partners to whom they are legally married. Also to be included in this category are persons married according to Hindu custom or Muslim rites, whether or not these marriages have been formally registered. A person living apart from, though not legally separated from, his or her married partner is to be recorded as married.

Widowed - This covers all persons married legally or through customary rites whose partners have died.

Divorced - This covers all persons whose marriages have been dissolved by legal proceedings.

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Legally separated - This applies only when the persons have been legally separated.