Interviewer instructions
Columns P40-51: Particulars of all live births
88. The questions in columns P40 to P51 apply to all females aged 12 years and over
89. Answers are required of all females in this category. It does not matter whether or not they are married, never married, divorced or separated; whether or not they are still attending school; or what their relationship to the head of the household is. You must ask the questions of all females aged twelve years and over. First thing to do is check in column P11 and P12 and then identify all those to whom these questions should be posed. Make sure you make your entries in the correct serial numbers for the eligible women.
90. For all males and for girls below twelve years of age, leave columns P40 to P51 blank. Also, if a female aged 12 years and above has, for some reason, declined to respond to the questions, leave columns P40 to P51 blank. However, this will not be tolerated. For childless women, code "0" in the appropriate bigger boxes.
91. Many women do not like answering questions about their children. There are various reasons for this, but it is your job to obtain the answers. It will require firmness, politeness and tact.
92. Ask of all females aged 12 years and over "Have you borne any children alive?"
(a, A child borne alive is one who shows one or more of the following signs of life immediately after birth:
(i) Crying or similar sounds
(ii) Movement of the limbs or any other parts of the body
(iii) Any other tangible signs of life.
The census is concerned only with children born alive. Do not include stillbirths, that is, children who were born dead and therefore did not show any sign(s) of life as above at the time of birth.
(b) If the woman has born any child alive, write the number of boys in the bigger box in P40 and the number of girls in P41 if it is a single digit. However; mark an "X" in the smaller box and then fill in the last digit for 1019. The following are examples:
93. If the woman has born children alive, ask, "of the children you have born alive, how many usually live with you in this household?" Write the number of boys who usually live in the household in column P42 and number of girls in column P43. If none of the boys or girls she has borne alive are living in the household, write "0" in the appropriate boxes. For female headed households, you should be able to verify this information from column P10 and P11. If for example the woman has only two boys and two 'girls then you should write "2" in column P42 and "2" in column P43, leaving the smaller boxes in each sub-column blank.
94. Next ask, "of the children you have born alive, how many usually live elsewhere?"
(a) Write the number of boys who usually live elsewhere in column P44 and the number of girls in column P45. Fill in a single digit in the bigger box under the appropriate column if less than ten (10); for 10 and above mark an "X" the smaller box and fill in the last single digit in the bigger box. If none of the boys or girls she has borne alive live elsewhere, write, "0" in the appropriate bigger boxes, leaving the smaller boxes blank.
(b) Include in these columns all the children she has borne alive who usually live elsewhere. It may be that they have grown up and married, or have gone off to work, or are living with relatives, or are in a boarding school etc. Make sure that none of the children she has borne alive are missed out. Ask further questions to probe the matter fully - "are any of your children away?" "at work?" "with relatives?", etc.
95. Then ask, "of the children you have born alive, how many have died?"
(a) Many people do not want to talk of the dead and many others find it painful to talk about their dead children. It is best to ask this question in a matter of fact way and without embarrassment. Please refer to paragraph 92(a) above for the definition of a live birth.
(b) Write the number of boys who have died in column P46 and number of girls in column in P47 using the same procedure as in 94 (a). If none of the boys and girls she has borne alive has died, code "0" in the appropriate columns.
(c) If, in spite of your best efforts, you cannot obtain this information about the children who have died, leave columns P46 and P47 blank. However, you should not encourage this.
96. Before proceeding to columns P48-P51, probe to know whether the number of children given in columns P42-x'47 is correct by comparing with the entry in columns P40 and P41. If these totals differ, probe further and adjust your entries accordingly.
97. Ask, "in what year and month was your last child born?" Record the month and year of birth in columns P48 and P49 respectively. Code the month in column P48 i.e. "01" for January, "02" for February, "12" for December. Code the last two digits of the year i.e. "80" for 1980, "89" for 1989 in column P49 etc.
98. Then ask, 'was it a boy or a girl?' Write the sex of the last borne child in column P50. Code "1" for male, "2" for female, "3" for male twins, "4" for female twins, "5" for twins with one of either sex, and "6" for other multiple births.
99. In column P51 indicate whether the child is still alive. If the last live birth is alive and living with the mother, check that year of birth agrees with the age of the child which is in column P12. If the dates do not agree, find out what has gone wrong and make any correction that is necessary. For single births code "1" if the child is still alive and "2" if dead. For twins code "3" if both twins are alive and "4" if only one of the twins is alive. For multiple births, code "5" if all the multiples are alive, "6" if two of the multiples are alive, "7" if only one of the multiples is alive and "8" if none of the multiples is alive. Write "9" if the survival status of the last birth is not known.
