3 min readMar 30, 2026 10:21 AM IST
First published on: Mar 30, 2026 at 10:21 AM IST
Live-in couples, who consider “their relationship as a stable union” will be counted as a married couple in 2027 Census.
The clarification comes under the FAQ section of the census website, where a question is stated as: “Will a couple in a live-in relationship be considered a married couple?”. To this, the answer states: “If they (the couple) consider their relationship as a stable union, they should be treated as a married couple.”
When will Census 2027 be conducted?
The 2027 Census will be conducted in two phases. Phase 1 will include house listing and housing census where house-to-house field work will be done in 30 days between April and September 2026 as decided by the respective state or UT government.
In phase 1, information regarding housing conditions, household details, availability of amenities such as drinking water, toilets, electricity, fuel used for cooking, internet, etc.; and possession of assets such as radio, TV, computer, two wheelers, four-wheelers, etc. by the household is collected.
Phase 2 will include population enumeration beginning February 2027 across India except UT of Ladakh and snow-bound areas of the UT of J&K, and the States of Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand where it will be conducted in September 2026.
In phase 2, details regarding the number of persons and their name, age, sex, marital status, caste, religion, education, language, disability, migration, occupation, and fertility details (for married women) is collected.
It is important to note that this time, an option of self-enumeration has also been given to the citizens, in addition to the usual “Canvasser method,” where an enumerator visits ones household and records information using a Mobile App.
What does this mean?
Self-enumeration will allow the user to fill their own information at convenience through a web portal. It means a person can choose to self-enumerate by providing their information through the self-enumeration portal, after which an Enumerator will visit the household to collect SE ID & validate the same during field visit.
Can all households, namely Normal, Institutional, and Houseless do self-enumeration?
No, according to the census FAQ. Only Normal households can self-enumerate.
According to 2011 Census, a ‘Normal Household’ is defined as a group of persons who normally live together and take their meals from a common kitchen unless the exigencies of work prevents any of them from doing so. The persons in a household may be related or unrelated or a mix of both.
However, if a group of unrelated persons live in a Census house but do not take their meals from the common kitchen, they are not considered a part of a common household. Each such person is treated as a separate household.
Self enumeration can be done during the first phase of the census, during which the portal will remain open for 15 days just before the start of house to house Houselisting Operations of 30 days in the respective States/UTs.
The 2027 Census will be conducted in two phases. (File Photo) 
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