Census 2001 - IPUMS Subset
South Africa, 2001
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Reference ID
ZAF_2001_PHC_v01_M_v7.5_A_IPUMS
Producer(s)
Statistics South Africa, IPUMS
Metadata
Created on
Sep 29, 2011
Last modified
Sep 03, 2025
Page views
30133
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- Data files
- ZAF2001_PHC-H-H.dat
- ZAF2001_PHC-P-H.dat
Marital status (ZA2001A_MARST)
Data file: ZAF2001_PHC-P-H.dat
Overview
Type:
Discrete
Decimal:
0
Start:
227
End:
227
Width:
1
Range:
-
Format:
Numeric
Questions and instructions
Literal question
<svar v="ZA01A041 ZA01A401 ZA01A402 ZA01A403 ZA01A404 ZA01A405 ZA01A406 ZA01A407 ZA01A408 ZA01A409 ZA01A410 ZA01A411 ZA01A412 ZA01A413 ZA01A414 ZA01A415 ZA01A416 ZA01A417 ZA01A418 ZA01A419 ZA01A420 ZA01A421 ZA01A422 ZA01A423 ZA01A424 ZA01A425 ZA01A426 ZA01A427 ZA01A428 ZA01A429 ZA01A430 ZA01A431 ZA01A432 ZA01A433 ZA01A434 ZA01A435 ZA01A436 ZA01A437 ZA01A438 ZA01A439 ZA01A476 ZA01A477 ZA01A478 ZA01A479 ZA01A480 ZA01A481 ZA01A482 ZA01A483 ZA01A485"><span class="h1">Section A: Information for persons in the household -- ask of everyone</span><br />[Section A of this form, each question has 10 answer rows for writing individual answers for up to 10 individuals in the household. Only the first is shown here, which is exactly the same as the other nine.]<br /></svar></p>
<p><svar a="all" v="ZA01A408">P-05. Marital status<br /><div class="i1">_ What is (the person's) present marital status? Write only one code per person in the box. If both civil/religious and traditional marriage, indicate civil/religious.<br />1 = Married civil/religious<br />2 = Married traditional/customary<br />3 = Polygamous marriage<br />4 = Living together like married partners<br />5 = Never married<br />6 = Widower/widow<br />7 = Separated<br />8 = Divorced<br />If categories 5-8 go to (P-06).</div><br /></svar>
<p><svar a="all" v="ZA01A408">P-05. Marital status<br /><div class="i1">_ What is (the person's) present marital status? Write only one code per person in the box. If both civil/religious and traditional marriage, indicate civil/religious.<br />1 = Married civil/religious<br />2 = Married traditional/customary<br />3 = Polygamous marriage<br />4 = Living together like married partners<br />5 = Never married<br />6 = Widower/widow<br />7 = Separated<br />8 = Divorced<br />If categories 5-8 go to (P-06).</div><br /></svar>
Categories
| Value | Category |
|---|---|
| 1 | Married civil/religious |
| 2 | Married traditional/customary |
| 3 | Polygamous marriage |
| 4 | Living together as unmarried partners |
| 5 | Never married |
| 6 | Widower/widow |
| 7 | Separated |
| 8 | Divorced |
Warning: these figures indicate the number of cases found in the data file. They cannot be interpreted as summary statistics of the population of interest.
Interviewer instructions
<svar a="all" v="ZA01A408"><span class="em">Question P-05 -- Marital status</span><br /><br /> <span class="em">"What is (the person's) PRESENT marital status?"</span><br /><br />Only one code should be given. We are interested in the marital status on the <span class="em">census night</span>.<br /><br />If, for example, a widow remarried before the census night she is classified as married not widowed, but if she married after the census night she is classified as widowed. If however she was widowed, remarried and is now separated from her second husband, she is separated.<br /><br />The number of times a person has been married is not captured.<br /><br />Read out all the categories from the questionnaire.<br /><br />The given classifications on marital status are sufficient, but sometimes you will have to probe. When a person is married you must ask how he or she is married (codes 1-3).<br /><br />If a person married under both traditional/customary and civil law, <span class="em">civil</span> takes precedence.<br /><br />A man with more than one wife should indicate "polygamous" rather than civil or customary marriage. The wives indicate category 1 or 2, as they cannot have two husbands. More guidelines about how to treat polygamous households appear in Appendix 5.<br /><br /><span class="pg">[P. 38]</span><br /><br />Couples who are not married to each other but live together as if they are married, belong to category 4. This category is for people who live in every respect as a married couple except that they have not undergone a marriage ceremony. Only male/female couples should indicate this category -- the census does not collect data on gay couples.<br /><br />For children write 5 -- "Never married". If a person says "single" they must choose from categories 4-8.<br /><br />Now we get our first "skip". People who are not married or living together as married, i.e. all those who fall under categories 5-8, do not need to answer the next question, which is P-05a, so they skip Question P-05a and go to P-06.<br /></svar></p>
<p><svar v="ZA01A408 ZA01A409"><span class="em">Rules for marital status in relation to polygamy:</span><br /><br />A. Women cannot have multiple husbands, and women can never have marital status 3 (polygamous).<br /><br />B. In a polygamous marriage, the man declares his marital status as 3 (polygamous): each of his wives declares her marital status as either 1 (civil/religious marriage) or 2 (traditional/customary marriage). Note that wives in polygamous marriages cannot have marital status 4 (living together).<br /><br />C. In a non-polygamous marriage, each partner can have marital status of 1 (civil/religious marriage) or 2 (traditional/customary marriage) or 4 (living together).<br /><br />D. If a man has multiple wives, his marital status must be 3 (polygamous).<br /><br />E. Each of a polygamous man's wives should make her spouse number person point to the man, and the man's spouse person number should point to the first of his wives.<br /><br />F. It is possible to have a polygamous man with no spouses or with a single spouse in the household.<br /><br />In the situation where there is a compound ("kraal") consisting of several huts, each of which has its own separate cooking and eating areas, the people in each of these huts would be enumerated as separate households.<br /><br />For example, a man lives in his compound with his 3 wives and his son 's family (total of 4 huts). There would be 4 households here to enumerate, and 4 questionnaires filled out. The hut where the husband stayed on census night would have a head (him, marital status 3) and a spouse (the wife from that hut, marital status 1 or 2), and spouse person numbers pointing to each other; each of the other 2 wives' huts would just have a head (the wife, marital status 1 or 2) with spouse person number = 99 (spouse not present in the household), and other occupants (children, etc). The son 's family would also be its own household.<br /><br />None of these questionnaires should be linked (via barcode on the last page), since they are all separate households. Questionnaires linking /continuation only occurs when a single household has more than 10 people (or 20, or 30, etc.).<br /><br />When a man lives with his wives in the same household and they share the same cooking/eating facilities, then they would all be enumerated as one household, with one questionnaire. The man would have marital status 3; his spouse person number would point to the first wife. Each wife would have marital status 1 or 2, and her spouse person number would point to the man.<br /><br />This caters for polygamy while still adhering to the definition of a household, which is not based on financial support.<br /></svar>
<p><svar v="ZA01A408 ZA01A409"><span class="em">Rules for marital status in relation to polygamy:</span><br /><br />A. Women cannot have multiple husbands, and women can never have marital status 3 (polygamous).<br /><br />B. In a polygamous marriage, the man declares his marital status as 3 (polygamous): each of his wives declares her marital status as either 1 (civil/religious marriage) or 2 (traditional/customary marriage). Note that wives in polygamous marriages cannot have marital status 4 (living together).<br /><br />C. In a non-polygamous marriage, each partner can have marital status of 1 (civil/religious marriage) or 2 (traditional/customary marriage) or 4 (living together).<br /><br />D. If a man has multiple wives, his marital status must be 3 (polygamous).<br /><br />E. Each of a polygamous man's wives should make her spouse number person point to the man, and the man's spouse person number should point to the first of his wives.<br /><br />F. It is possible to have a polygamous man with no spouses or with a single spouse in the household.<br /><br />In the situation where there is a compound ("kraal") consisting of several huts, each of which has its own separate cooking and eating areas, the people in each of these huts would be enumerated as separate households.<br /><br />For example, a man lives in his compound with his 3 wives and his son 's family (total of 4 huts). There would be 4 households here to enumerate, and 4 questionnaires filled out. The hut where the husband stayed on census night would have a head (him, marital status 3) and a spouse (the wife from that hut, marital status 1 or 2), and spouse person numbers pointing to each other; each of the other 2 wives' huts would just have a head (the wife, marital status 1 or 2) with spouse person number = 99 (spouse not present in the household), and other occupants (children, etc). The son 's family would also be its own household.<br /><br />None of these questionnaires should be linked (via barcode on the last page), since they are all separate households. Questionnaires linking /continuation only occurs when a single household has more than 10 people (or 20, or 30, etc.).<br /><br />When a man lives with his wives in the same household and they share the same cooking/eating facilities, then they would all be enumerated as one household, with one questionnaire. The man would have marital status 3; his spouse person number would point to the first wife. Each wife would have marital status 1 or 2, and her spouse person number would point to the man.<br /><br />This caters for polygamy while still adhering to the definition of a household, which is not based on financial support.<br /></svar>
Description
Definition
This variable indicates the person's present marital status.
Universe
South Africa 2001: All persons
concept
Concept
| var_concept.title | Vocabulary |
|---|---|
| Demographic Variables -- PERSON | IPUMS |