Abstract
Concomitant with rapid socioeconomic development female marriage patterns have undergone dramatic changes in the last three to four decades. Census data indicate that the proportion of single women in the population doubled, from 16% to 31%, between 1965 and 2000. The singulate mean age marriage increased from 18.9 to 25.5 years. In a nationally representative household survey conducted by the author in 1999 the mean age at marriage was found to be 20 years. About 91% of ever-married women were currently in a marital union; among the widowed and divorced re-marriage was fairly low. About 5% women reported to be in a polygynous union. A steep inverse association was found between educational attainment and polygyny. The percent of women in a consanguineous union declined from 53% in 1987 to 35% in 1999 which to some extent is a result of sampling differences associated with a change in definition of Kuwaiti nationals. Consanguineous marriage was positively associated with young age at mairiage, rural and low-income residence, Bedouin status, and lack of participation in economic activity before marriage. Age at marriage had a significant, positive association with women’s educational level and their participation in the workforce prior to marriage, and marriage with a relative was associated with younger age at marriage. Thus, women’s educational progress and their participation in wage work outside the house has been associated with massive changes in marital patterns and probably a partial convergence towards the conjugal family foreseen by Goode.
Published Version
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