Nuptiality Patterns and

Trends by Age and Sex in

Nepal
Prepared by: Dipesh Kumar Shrestha,Mahesh
Aryal and Pratikshya Grg

Special Thanks to: Sagar Sunuwar

Introduction:

► Nuptility is the mathematical scale used for the

measurement of marital status of Population.
► Marital status is an important element of
Population composition and is a significant factor
in Population dynamics as it affects the fertility
to a large extent ,particularly in societies like
Nepal where marriage is compulsory for having
baby.
History of measurement of Nuptility in
Censuses of Nepal
► Looking at the history of the Nepal censuses,all the
censuses held since 1952/54 have collected information on
the marital status of the population above a particular
minimum age.
► In the 1952/54 censuses, information on marital status
was obtained for the population aged 5 years and above.
► In the 1961 & 1971 censuses, information on marital status
was obtained for the population aged 6 years and above.
► The age limit was raised to 10 years and above in the
subsequent four censuses, (1981, 1991, 2001 and 2011).
Categories of Marital Status

o Category of Marital status before 1991 censuses:

In each census before 1991, the information on marital status were
collected under four categories:
(i) never married;
(ii) married;
(iii) widowed and
(iv) divorced/separated.
(This census does not categorized divorce and separation as independent
and also did not separated the category for remarried,Polygamy cases)
 Category of Marital Status in 1991
Censuses

The 1991 census categorised divorced/separated as two independent

categories, and information on marital status was collected under five
categories mainly:
i. Never Married
ii. Married
iii. Widowed
iv. Divorced
v. Separated
(However, this census also failed to give the information related to re-married
and multiple married).
 Category of Marital Status on 2001&
2011 Censuses
► The 2001 census further classified the category ‘married’ into three
sub-categories: (i) single married (married persons living with a single spouse),
(ii) multiple married (married persons living with more than one spouse), and
(iii) re-married.
► The 2011 census followed the same categories Categorically, marital status has
four main categories and four sub-categories:

Marital
Status
Single Married Widowed Divorced/Separated

Divorced Separated
Single Multiple Re-Married
Married Married
 Definitions and Categories of Marital
Statuses in Various Censuses in Nepal
1952/54-1971 1981 1991 2001-2011

1. Never married: 1.Never married: 1. Never 1. Never

A person who has not A person who is not married:Same as 1981 married:
lived as husband and married in any way census Same as 1981
wife even once is known (legally, religiously or census
as a person who has
socially), or who
never married.
has not lived as
husband or wife even
once at the time of the
census is known
as a person who has
never married.
 Contd..
1952/54-1971 1981 1991 2001-2011

2. Married: 2.Married: 2. Married: a) Single Married

A person who has lived No matter how one is married, one Same as 1981 b) Multiple Married
as husband and wife who has lived once as a husband or census c) Re-Married
after being married wife in the community at the time of (We will discuss below)
religiously or socially is census enumeration and has continued
defined as married. to do so , even though, living in a
separate place. This includes polygamy
and re-marriage cases.
 Contd…
1952/54-1971 1981 1991 2001-2011

4. 4.Divorced/separated:The married person who has 4. Divorced: 4. Divorced:

Divorced/separated: broken the marital status legally or by any means Same as Same as 1981
A married person who is known as divorced. If the husband and wife 1981 census
has broken up the continue to live separately for ever,they are census 5.Separated:
marital considered to be divorced. If the wife has chosen 5.Separated Same as 1981
relationship is another husband but if the husband has not yet : census
classified re-married at the time of the census, the husband Same as
as divorced. Even if, is considered divorced. But once the husband and 1981
the wife has chosen wife have divorced and lived separately and after census
another husband but sometime both remarry other people, they are
the husband considered to be married.A person who has not
has not yet remarried, broken the marital union legally or by any means
he is considered to be but is living separately from his/her husband or
divorced. wife without any relationship to each
other is considered separated.
Contd….
1952/54-1971 1981 1991 2001-2011

3.Widower/widow: 3.Widowed: 3. Widowed: 3. Widowed:

A man who has lost his If the wife is dead at the time of Same as 1981 Same as 1981
wife due to death and has thecensus, the person is known as census census
not re-married is defined awidower. If the wife loses her
as a widower. On the husband on account of his death she
other hand if a woman is known as a widow. In the case of
has lost her husband on such persons, if they have not
account of death and re-married at the time of
has not re-married she is the census they are known as
known as a widow. widower or widow. But if they are
re-married they are considered to
have been married again.
 Contd…
► Single married (Living with one spouse): Persons who are living with only a
single spouse at the time of census enumeration are kept in this category.
► Multiple married (Living with more than one spouse): Any person comes
under the category of “Multiple married” if s/he is living with more than one
spouse at the time of census enumeration.
► Re-married: Any currently married person is enumerated as “Re-married” if
they have married more than once and are currently living with only a single
spouse at the time of enumeration.
Percentage of Never Married people by Age and Sex
Age Male Female
Population DHS 2011 Population DHS 2011
Census 2011 Census 2011
15-19 92.9 92.9 76.8 71.0
20-24 57.7 54.4 27.3 22.6
25-29 21.3 17.3 7.3 7.0
30-34 6.7 6.4 2.9 2.0
35-39 2.9 2.4 2.0 1.4
40-44 2.0 1.4 1.8 1.2
45-49 1.6 0.2 1.4 1.3
Observations from the Table:

► Age Group 15-19 has high percentage which is a good news

for Nepal as it clearly indicates that Child Marriage has
been decreasing and teenager are being engaged in
education and job.
► Percentage of female for age group of 20-24 is very less
compared to the 15-19 as the existence of culture of
marrying girl at this age group is still prevalent in Nepal.
► The Percentage for female in age group 15-19 is almost
less than 20% as compared to male which means girls are
forced to marriage at younger age.
Percentage of Married Population by Age and Sex
Age Group Male Female
Population DHS 2011 Population DHS 2011
Census 2011 Census 2011
15-19 7.1 6.9 23.1 28.8
20-24 42.0 44.7 72.3 76.6
25-29 78.3 81.0 92.9 91.1
30-34 92.7 91.9 95.7 95.7
35-39 96.3 95.3 95.6 93.8
40-44 96.9 96.6 94.5 92.6
45-49 96.7 96.3 93.1 87.9

Comment : Females seems to be married at 15-19 age than male as the data shows 23.1% of female are
married in this age group
Percentage of Divorced Population by Age and Sex
Age Group Male Female
Population DHS 2011 Population 2011 DHS 2011
Census 2011
15-19 0 0.6 0 0
20-24 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1
25-29 0.1 0.4 0.1 0.2
30-34 0.2 1.5 0.1 0.1
35-39 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.1
40-44 0.2 0.6 0.2 0.1
45-49 0.1 0 0.2 0.2

Comment : It seems that the percentage of divorced male is higher in age group of
30-44.
Percentage of Separated Population by Age and Sex
Age Group Male Female
Population DHS 2011 Population DHS 2011
Census 2011 Census 2011
15-19 0 0.2 0 0.2
20-24 0.1 0.7 0.1 0.3
25-29 0.1 1.1 0.2 0.6
30-34 0.2 0 0.3 0.6
35-39 0.2 0.9 0.4 1
40-44 0.2 0.2 0.4 1
45-49 0.2 1.1 0.5 2.3

Comment : Percentage of separated female is higher,the reason might be that their

husband has gone abroad for the employment.
Percentage of Widowhood by Age and Sex
Age Group Male Female
Population Census DHS 2011 Population Census DHS 2011
2011
15-19 0 0 0 0
20-24 0.1 0 0.2 0.2
25-29 0.2 0.2 0.5 1.2
30-34 0.2 0.1 1 1.6
35-39 0.4 1.1 1.8 3.6
40-44 0.7 1.2 3.1 5
45-49 1.2 2.4 4.8 8.3

Comment : The percentage of widowhood is more in female than males due to :

a. Females tend not to marry after death of her husband
b. Life expectancy of male is lower than females
Comment : The trend of higher never married male has been followed in every census taken.
Comment : The percentage of higher percentage of married female is always same in every censuses.
Comment : The Percentage of widowed female is higher than percentage of widowed
male.
Comment : Percentage of divorced female is higher in every censuses than males except in 2001
censuses,the reason might be that after divorced men tends to re-marry rather than female
Comment : SMAM for male is higher than female,this trend is followed from the census of 1961 to the
census of 2011.This means women are being married early than male.The Reason behind this may be the
culture of marrying girls at Younger Age than males
Floors are Open for
Discussion