4. Age (in years completed; if less than one year, write 0)

Question 4 Age

88. "How old is this person?"

89. Write the age in completed years. If the person is an infant under one year of age, write "0".

90. This question is one of the most important in the census and it may be the most difficult to answer. You will find many people who do not know their age. In these cases you will have to estimate it. You must enter an age for every person and should not use "not known" answers for this question.

91. The best source of information will be birth, immunization or baptismal certificates. Ask to see any documents which are available.

92. Some people may not know their age but may know when they were born. Ask, "When was this person born?". If the date of birth is known, calculate the age. The conversion table at the back of these Instructions may help you. There is also a list of some historical events which may help establish dates of birth and ages.

93. One reliable age in the household may help you to work out the birth dates of other members of the household if it is known whether they are older or younger and by how many years.

94. If all else fails, make the best estimate you can, judging by such things as the person's appearance and position in the household and by using your common sense knowledge that parents are seldom younger than fifteen years of age when their first child is born, that women do not usually bear children below the age of twelve or over fifty years, that people who were in the same class at school are generally similar in age and so on.