A High Price to Pay: Weddings and Waithood in Cambodia

Abstract

Young people across the globe are increasingly likely to experience waithood—a prolonged period between adolescence and adulthood. Simultaneously, marriage expenses are on the rise. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in Cambodia, this article examines the relationship between the commercialisation of weddings and waithood. I argue that the high cost of weddings puts intense strain on many rural Cambodian families. Under economic conditions in which it is difficult to secure a stable and lucrative livelihood, young men often struggle to raise sufficient funds for bridewealth, and may delay marriage and the transition into adulthood as a result. As their life trajectories take on new temporalities, young men’s relationships with their elders can grow tense. By focusing on intergenerational dynamics, this article provides a deeper understanding of how rising marriage expenses and waithood shape not only the lives of young people but those of their family members as well.