In the absence of empirical data a plausible explanation for the large proportion of widowed females as compared with widowed males is that remarriage of widowed females seldom takes place due to either advanced in age or consideration for young children under their care or both.

Such a circumstance as well as widowed females remaining stay put may be partly responsible for the higher proportion of widowed females. On the contrary widowed males tend to look out for a spouse to run the family and if such widowed males are without children their remarriage in expectation for a descendant may take place.

The number of divorced/separated persons (11,382) represents 0.52 per cent of the total population of the State. The total number of divorced/separated females (8,088) is more than double the number of divorced/separated males (3,314), and such females represent 70.88 per cent of the total number of divorced/separated persons.

In age groups 40-44 and 35-39 respectively the highest figures are 1071 for females and 401 for males, and the lowest figures are 31 for females and 37 for males (both in age group 10-14). Such negligible number of divorced/separated persons is indicative of the social scene where divorce and separation seldom take place on the one hand and there are higher chances of reunion or remarriage of such persons on the other.

It is observed that except for some minor fluctuations in figures and proportions, the marital status obtaining in both rural and urban areas does not show significant changes on the regional basis.

Contrary to the general presumption that urban boys and girls delay marriage by a few years while doing higher studies and looking for jobs and that the proportions of “never married” males and females in the urban area are higher than that in the rural area, the actual position is just the opposite when the proportions of “never married” of both the sexes in the urban area are lower than the corresponding figures in the rural area. A brief and explanatory data on the same have been presented in Table III.

Irrespective of the age groups, a comparative statement of rural and urban population by sex with regard to the three categories of marital status namely “Married”, “Widowed” and “Divorced/Separated” has been presented in Table IV which is self explanatory.

From the above it is evident that variations between rural and urban as well as between the sexes under the “Married” category are minimal while variations between the sexes in the other two categories of “Widowed” and “Divorced/Separated” are considerable where females lead the males with a wide margin.

We may have a passing reference to the differences, if any, in proportions between the districts so far as the four categories of marital status are concerned. The proportions of population under each category of marital status have been calculated on the total population of each district and presented in Table V.

A quick glance on the above reveals that in all the hill districts1 the proportions of “never married” persons are above sixty per cent or close to it while in the plain districts the proportion of the said marital status is a little above fifty five per cent or so.

The proportion of “married” persons in the plain districts are a little above forty per cent or close to it while in the hill districts the proportions of the said category are below thirty eight per cent.

Higher rates of widowhood are recorded in two plain districts (Imphal East and Imphal West) with 4.04% and 4.23% respectively and in the remaining two plain districts also the rates are close to four per cent.

In all the hill districts the proportions of widowed population are far below three per cent. In all the districts, the proportions of “divorced/separated” persons vary from the lowest of 0.38 per cent to the highest of 0.59 per cent.

It may be pertinent to examine briefly the marital status of the population of the different religious communities.

When we examine the proportions of population by religion under different categories of marital status it has been observed that the proportion of “never married” population is the highest (61.64%) among the Muslims followed by Christians (60.96%), Buddhists (58.62%), Other Religions (56.47%), Hindus (54.24%) and Sikhs (37.02%).

The highest proportion of “married” persons (60.50%) is recorded among the Sikhs and a distant second (41.05%) and third (39.30%) positions go respectively to Hindus and Other Religions.

With 38.63% of the population being “married” the fourth position goes to Buddhists followed by Christians (36.13%) and Muslims (34.56%).

concluded....