The Nuptiality Regimes in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

While in historical Europe the modernization of marriage patterns proved to be a correlate of the fertility transition in sub-Saharan Africa the awaited nuptiality transition has been slow. In several instances no change in age at 1st marriage has been detected and in others it has been reduced to more plausible proportions. In the majority of countries with at least 2 comparable censuses and age schedules of proportions single rises in age at marriage were detected but the orders of magnitude are mostly comprised between 6 and 12 months per decade. Whenever there was a rise in the age at 1st marriage it occurred for both sexes. The age differences between the spouses at 1st marriage therefore remains the same which is consistent with the finding that polygyny has not significantly declined. The main feature that may have undergone change is the form of partner selection. Fragmentary evidence suggests that partner selection may have become a matter of greater personal choice. The main correlate of higher ages at 1st marriage both for individuals and regional or ethnic aggregates is the level of female education. Higher levels of female schooling in sub-Saharan Africa are also strongly related to the penetration of Christianity and low levels remain typical of Islamic populations. The effects of traditional social organization variables are still clearly detectable. They operate either directly or indirectly (via education) on various components of the nuptiality regime. A 3rd major factor needs to be taken into account: labor migration and sex-ratio distortion. Aside from substantial measurement error age- sex- and marital status-selective migration distort the functioning of traditional nuptiality systems. These 3 main clusters of influences namely those associated with education traditional social organization and migration only offer a partial explanation of regional and ethnic nuptiality patterns. A possible avenue for further research is the more extensive and varied measurement of indicators of the social and economic position of women.