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2011 Census of Population & Housing - Jamaica
xii
Each horizontal bar of the pyramid represents the size of an age-sex group. The bottom
bar shows the number of males and females who were less than five years old at the
time of the census; that is persons born in the five years preceding. The very brief bars
at the top of the pyramid show the small number of survivors of the birth cohorts of
1930 or earlier. Each year a new cohort is born and is placed at the bottom of the
pyramid while those above move up. As the cohorts age they inevitably lose members
to death and migration. The pyramid shown shows the obvious narrowing at the base
as the fertility declines take effect while the increases at the older ages are evident.
Further evidence of ageing can be assessed in terms of changing average age. In relation
to average age, the median age is generally used as a more reliable indicator than the
mean age. The median age is that age which divides a population into numerically
equal parts of younger and older persons. The median ages shown for Jamaica for the
period 1970-2011 reflects the increasing ageing with 10 years added to the median age
of the population over the four decades. Of note is the older ages for women but the
higher number of years added for men.
Table (ix) Median Age (in years) of the Population by Sex: 1970-2011
Year
Total
Male
Female
1970
17
16
18
1982
19
19
20
1991
22
21
22
2001
24
24
25
2011
27
27
28
Years added 1970-2011
10
11
10
Marital Status
The marital status categories recognized in the census are married, widowed, divorced,
legally separated and never married. The definition of marriage used was in keeping
with that proposed by the United Nations for statistical purposes as “The act, ceremony
or process by which the legal relationship of husband or wife is constituted. The legality
of the union may be established by civil, religious or other means as recognized by the
laws of each country.” For Jamaica, marriages of East Indians according to the Hindu
custom are recognized. A legally married person is still regarded as married whether or
not living with the person to whom he or she is married.
The data show that the majority of men and women 16 years of age and over, about two
thirds, had never married. Sixty-nine per cent of men were never married compared to
67 per cent of women. Technically the number of married men should equal the number
of married women but the sex differential (25 per cent men and 24 per cent women) is