Transitions in the spousal selection process

This paper questions whether the shift to self-choice marriage implies that the traditional cultural norms stressing family influence on spouse selection have been weakened by inroads of modern norms of greater individual autonomy in the marriage process. Using a representative sample of married young adults (aged 20-34) in Greater Jakarta, we explore the courtship processes, and the degree of parental role in spouse selection. While only 4 per cent of the respondents cited that their marriage was arranged by others; over half of the respondents reported their parents or in-laws played a major role in their marriage decision. Our multivariate analysis suggests that the tertiary educated respondents are those most likely to report their parents playing a major role. We reflect on the prevailing cultural norms to discuss the centrality of family in studying the interactions between marriage, education, and social mobility in modern Indonesia.

It is evident that rapid global changes including urbanization, migration, increasing educational opportunities and technological advancement have impact on the institution of marriage all over the world and India is not exception to these changes. However, traditional values and norms have still playing significant influence on age at marriage, process of mate selection, dowry, status of bride in family etc. Youth in India study, a sub nationally representative survey, provide us an opportunity to explore these dimensions minutely. Results reveal that arrange marriage prevails irrespective of states, however some independency in choice of groom or bride is observed in Tamil Nadu. Largely, youth in northern states are not aware about their would-be spouse before marriage, which is not the case for southern states. Men are excited about marriage while for female; marriage is a reason to worry. The chances of knowing spouse before marriage is significantly more, if the age at marriage is above the legal age. Better economic condition and mother’s education, education of married women appeared as significant and positive determinants on this. Men and women living in non-nuclear family and in rural areas are less likely to interact with their spouse before marriage

“Shengnü” is a new social and culture phenomenon in China, especially urban China. Literally meaning “leftover woman”, it is a snazzy and demeaning word to describe unmarried women at age 30 and above. How does China, a country that was characteristic for universal female marriage and known to have a huge army of surplus-man, produce a group of un-marriageable women? This paper argues that the conflict of two competing cultural expectations of hypergamy -- female age and status hypergamy -- creates a mismatch that puts highly educated women at a disadvantage position in the marriage market. Using the 2005 mini-census, we examine the emergence of “Shengnü” phenomenon in Shanghai over the last two decades. We decompose the observed decline in marriage rates to study the contribution of marriage market mismatch, and compare with the findings from the United States and Japan. We further examine individual’s coping strategy facing the market squeeze.

In this study we analyze transitions to first marriage in Kyrgyzstan – one of the post-Soviet states of Central Asia. We use retrospective survey data collected in 2011/12 that contain full partnership histories of a representative sample of men and women in that country. We estimate hazard regression models to examine competing risks of arranged and non-arranged marriage among Kyrgyz and Uzbeks - Kyrgyzstan’s two largest ethnic groups. For Kyrgyz we also analyze risks of marriage resulting from forced bride kidnapping. Our results indicate that nonsymmetrical gender roles manifest themselves in positive effects of employment on marriage for men and negative effects for women. They also show that the effects of educational attainment of bride and groom vary by marriage type. With respect to marriage dynamics our results demonstrate that contrary to a popular notion of a post-Soviet revival of traditional marriage practices, the risks of marriage resulting from bride kidnapping have declined since the collapse of the USSR. Finally, we observe that during the most recent period covered by our data marriage risks declined across all marriage types.

As for most other countries in Asia, Thailand had been characterized by universal marriage since the 1960s. However, the country has witnessed increasing trends towards later and less marriage, where singlehood is particularly high for well-educated women. This paper aims to explore Thai women’s perceptions and attitudes on marriage and singlehood, particularly those among the never-married women. Through a sequential mixed-method approach, the study first quantitatively examines the contemporary context of marriage and singlehood, the perceptions of Thai women towards singlehood, gender equality and childbearing, and the factors influencing these perceptions. This is followed by a qualitative study to explore the attitudes and perceptions of the never-married women towards singlehood as well as their lifestyle, life satisfaction, and preparation for old age. An in-depth interview is conducted for the never-married women aged 30 – 44 who completed college and currently reside in Bangkok. The qualitative data collection is on-going and scheduled to be completed by October 2012.