Introduction:
Marriage in Pakistan pertains to wedding
traditions established and adhered by Pakistani men and women. Despite their local and regional variations, marriages in
Pakistan generally follow Islamic
marital jurisprudence. Culturally, marriages are not only seen as a union between
a husband and a wife, but also an alliance between their respective families.
Marriage Patterns & Trends:
Marriage Patterns and Trends All ever-married women interviewed in the PDHS were asked to give their age at the time they started cohabiting with their husbands. Probing was used to differentiate the nikah (the marriage contract ceremony) from the actual ruksati (the departure for the husband's household, i.e., consummation of the marriage). In the PDHS, only 25 percent of women age 15-19 and 60 percent of women age 20-24 had ever been married. Once marriages were entered into, however, they tended to remain quite stable. Less than one percent of women were divorced or separated at the time of the survey and less than two percent were widowed. The fact that marriage is a social obligation and nearly universal in Pakistan is supported by the finding that 98 percent of women age 35-49 had married. A comparison of the proportion of women who had never been married derived from the PDHS and the 1979-80 PLM indicates that substantial changes in marriage patterns took place between the two surveys. Although the proportion of women never married rose for every age group, the changes are particularly striking at ages 20-29, which has traditionally been the peak childbearing period for women in Pakistan. Changes in marriage patterns over time arc also evident from an examination of changes in the singulate mean age at marriage (SMAM). The singulate mean age at marriage computed from various sources for males and females is presented. The SMAM for females has risen by five years during the last three decades (from 16.7 years in 1961 to 21.7 years in 1990-91. The S MAM for males rose by three years over the same period.
The distribution of ever-married women by the proportion married by particular ages. Early marriage (before age 15) has never been prevalent, but it occurs even less frequently among the youngest age groups. The proportion married by age 18 or age 20 has also declined sharply when comparing women age 30-34 to those age 20-24. The median age at marriage for each of the five-year age groups from age 25-49 indicates very little variation for different cohorts. This apparent lack of change is partly due to the fact that the median cannot be calculated for women under age 25 since the majority have not yet been married. The median age at marriage, however, we necessarily be higher than 20 years for women who are currently in the 20-24 age group.
Differentials in age at
marriage:
Differentials in Age at
Marriage presents differentials in the median age at marriage for
various groups of women. Overall, for women age 25-49, the median age at
marriage is 18.6 years. This figure is slightly higher in urban areas (19.1
years) than in rural areas (18.4 years). Among Pakistan's four provinces, the
median age is highest in NWFP and Punjab and substantially lower in Baluchistan
and Sindh. Finally, there is a positive association between the median age at
marriage for women and their educational attainment: women with no education
marry four years earlier, on average, than women with secondary or higher
education.
Marriage Between
Relatives:
One of the most salient
aspects of marriage patterns in Pakistan is the frequency of marriage between
blood relatives (i.e., consanguineous marriages). There is some evidence that
cousin marriage may affect both fertility and the health of children. Data on
marriage between relatives. It should be
noted that such data have not previously been available for Pakistan at the
national level. The PDHS presents documented evidence of the widespread
prevalence of cousin marriage in Pakistan. Sixty-one percent of all marriages
are consanguineous unions between first or second cousins; this is one of the
highest rates reported anywhere in the world (Bittles 1990; Bittles et al.
1991). First cousin marriages occur more frequently on the father's side (30
percent), but are also common on the mother's side (21 percent). Some parents
may not be able to afford a large dowry, but if a daughter marries her cousin,
the size of the dowry may be smaller and the dowry can be kept within the family.
The difference is more pronounced for marriage with a cousin from the father's side, indicating stronger adherence to the traditional marriage pattern in rural areas. Rural residents may also have a greater desire to keep the dowry on the father's side of the family. Consanguineous marriages are relatively less popular in NWFP, although even in that province a majority of women marry a close relative.
As expected, more
educated women tend to marry nonrelatives more often than women with no
education. In fact, women with a secondary or higher education and those living
in major cities are more likely to marry a nonrelative than a relative. These
results are supported by the findings of a survey in Karachi which found that
women who were educated or employed were less likely to have married relatives
(Sathar and Kazi 1988).
Polygyny:
Polygyny Another factor
which has thus far been undocumented is the extent of polygynous marriages in
Pakistan. Polygyny is legal in Pakistan, although according to the Muslim
Family Laws Ordinance promulgated in 1961, the husband needs to obtain written
permission from his first wife to marry a second wife. Even though polygyny is
legal, less than five percent of currently married women reported that their
husbands had more than one wife.