Interviewer instructions
Question 5: Legal marital status
Information on legal marital status, when combined with other census questions, is used to study changes in family formation and to measure, among other things, the growth and structure of two-income families, lone-parent families and the elderly who live independently.
Mark the circle labelled Legally married (and not separated) if this person is a husband or wife, even if the person and his or her spouse are temporarily apart due to illness or work, but not if this person is separated or divorced.
Mark the circle labelled Legally married and separated if this person's spouse is still living but they no longer live together for any reason other than illness or work.
Mark the circle labelled Divorced if this person was once legally married, has obtained a divorce from that marriage and has never remarried.
Mark the circle labelled Widowed if this person was legally married or legally married and separated at the same time his or her spouse died and has never remarried.
Mark the circle labelled Never married (single) if this person has never been married.
If this person is living in a common-law relationship, choose the category in Question 5 which best describes this person's legal marital status (i.e. legally married and separated, divorced, widowed, or never married (single)) and mark the appropriate circle. Be sure to also mark this person's common-law status in Question 6.
