REGISTERED MARITAL STATUS

In 2016, the net undercount rate was highest for people identified as never married (3.9%) and lowest for people widowed, divorced or separated (-4.5%). This is consistent with 2011, although the net overcount rate in the widowed, divorced or separated group was much higher in 2016 compared with 2011.

Net Undercount Rate(a), Registered Marital Status, 2006-2016
		2006		2011		2016
	%	SE	%	SE	%	SE
Never married(b)	4.6	0.3	3.7	0.3	3.9	0.3
Widowed, divorced or separated	1.2	0.5	-0.8	0.5	-4.5	0.6
Married	1.0	0.2	0.2	0.2	-0.9	0.3

(a) A negative value indicates a net overcount.
(b) Includes those who are living with a de facto partner and have never been in a registered marriage.


It is important to consider the strong relationship with age when interpreting net undercount estimates by registered marital status. For example, the overcount in the older age groups, coupled with Census imputation performance for this age group, is a likely driver of the increasing overcount in the widowed, divorced or separated population.