Legally Registered Relationship Status

Glossary

Dissolved (civil union)

People for whom a decree, order or any legislative enactment for dissolution or nullity of their civil union exists, or where a dissolution of a voidable civil union has taken place. People whose civil union has been dissolved are:

• legally able to enter another civil union or get married (if they are an opposite-sex couple)
• not currently in a civil union, married, or separated
• not currently widowed or the surviving partner of a civil union.

Dissolved (marriage) (also known as divorced)

People for whom a decree, order or any legislative enactment for divorce or dissolution or nullity of marriage exists, or where a dissolution of a voidable marriage has taken place. People whose marriage has been dissolved are:

• legally able to marry again or enter a civil union
• not currently married, in a civil union, or separated
• not currently widowed or the surviving partner of a civil union.

Legally registered relationships

• Marriage
  A marriage is a legally registered relationship, which is entered into by two people of the opposite-sex who must have been married according to the laws and customs of the country in which they got married. A marriage also includes couples that have changed their relationship from a civil union to a marriage in New Zealand.
• Civil union
  A civil union is a legally registered relationship, which is entered into by two people of the same or opposite-sex who must have entered into the civil union according to the laws and customs of the country in which they entered into the civil union. A civil union also includes opposite-sex couples that have changed their relationship from a marriage to a civil union in New Zealand.

Never married and never in a civil union

A person who has never been in a legally registered relationship (marriage/civil union).

Separated (marriage or civil union)

To be separated, a person must be permanently living apart from his or her spouse or civil union partner, with or without a legal separation order or agreement. To be permanently living apart, a person must not usually reside with their spouse or civil union partner.

Spouse

A spouse is the husband or wife in a legally registered marriage. For the purposes of these definitions ‘spouse’ does not apply to civil unions.

Surviving civil union partner

The status of a person who has not entered into a new civil union or marriage, following the death of his or her civil union partner.

Widowed

The status of a person who has not entered into a new marriage or civil union following the death of his or her spouse.

Residual categories

Residual categories are used as operational codes only when capturing and/or coding particular types of responses. The mode of the survey will determine which residual categories are required.

Don’t know

Use of this category is discretionary. The use of a category capturing don't know responses is most applicable to household surveys where don't know may be a legitimate response to certain questions.

Refused to answer

This category is only used when it is known that the respondent has purposefully chosen not to respond to the question. Use of this residual category in processing is optional. Its use is most applicable in face-to-face or telephone interviews, but may be used in self-completed questionnaires if the respondent has clearly indicated they refuse or object to answering the question.

Response unidentifiable

This category is used when there is a response given, but:

1. the response is illegible, or
2. it is unclear what the meaning or intent of the response is – this most commonly occurs when the response being classified contains insufficient detail, is ambiguous or is vague, or
3. the response is contradictory for example, both the yes and no tick boxes have been ticked, or
4. the response is clear and seemingly within the scope of the classification, but cannot be coded because no suitable option (particularly other residual category options such as 'not elsewhere classified' or 'not further defined') exists in the classification or code file.

Response outside scope

This category is used for responses that are positively identified (that is, the meaning and the intent are clear) but which clearly fall outside the scope of the classification/topic as defined in the standard.

Not stated

This category is only used where a respondent has not given any response to the question asked, that is, it is solely for non-response.

Not captured (for vital statistics use only)

The variable is not collated in the reference period, or the variable is collated in a different format in reference period. (For example, the variable may have been collated using a different classification.)

References

Australian Bureau of Statistics (2006). "2901.0 Census dictionary, 2006 (Reissue) Registered Marital Status", http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/vwDictionary/6D7A94485C9BE5FACA25729E0008A888?opendocument [17 March 2008].

Department of Internal Affairs (2008). "Civil Unions", http://www.dia.govt.nz/diawebsite.nsf/wpg_URL/Services-Births-Deaths-and-Marriages-Civil-Unions?OpenDocument [9 May 2008].

Department of Internal Affairs (July 2005). "Notification of Death for Registration" form, Births, Deaths and Marriages, Lower Hutt.

Ministry of Social Development, Work and Income (2008). "Domestic Purposes and Widows Benefit", http://www.winz.govt.nz/get-assistance/main-benefit/domestic-purposes-widows.html [9 May 2005].

New Zealand Legislation: Acts. "Property (Relationships) Act 1976 No 166 (as at 03 December 2007)",

http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1976/0166/latest/DLM440945.html?search=ts_act_Property+Relationships+Act&sr=1 [9 May 2008].

Office of National Statistics (2004). "Harmonised Concepts and Questions for Social Data Sources, Primary Standards, Demographic information, household composition and relationships, http://www.statistics.gov.uk/about/data/harmonisation/primary_standards.asp [9 May 2005].

Office of National Statistics (2001). "Census 2001: Definitions, Chapter 5 Glossary", http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=12951&Pos=1&ColRank=1&Rank=208 [9 May 2005].

Statistics Canada (2007). "Marital Status", http://www.statcan.ca/english/concepts/definitions/marital-sta.htm [17 March 2008].

Statistics New Zealand (1999) Marital status, http://www.stats.govt.nz/statistical-methods/classifications-and-related-statistical-standards/marital-status/default.htm [9 May 2008].

Statistics New Zealand (2007). Report of the Review of Official Family Statistics, Statistics New Zealand, Wellington.

United Nations Statistics Division, Demographic and Social Statistics (2001). "Marriage and divorce", http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/sconcerns/mar/marmethods.htm [9 May 2008].

United Nations (2008). Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses Revision 2, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Statistics Division, Statistical Papers, UN, NY (Series M No. 67/Rev. 2).