Marriage and union formation, families and households

This paper examines trends and differentials in age at marriage by caste in five major States of India, namely, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh using data of National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3, 2005-‘06). Changes in age at marriage have been studied in four caste groups– representing a hierarchical socioeconomic stratification of the Indian society, namely, Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, Other Backward Castes, and Others. The latter category includes higher caste Hindus, Muslims and Christians. Trends in age at marriage are analyzed using four marriage cohorts. Results suggest that differentials in median ages at marriage by caste have widened over time: Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Castes showed little change; whereas ‘Scheduled Tribes’ and ‘Others’ recorded rapid transition. Differentials in marrying below legal ages– 21 years for boys and 18 years for girls, though on rise, vary largely by caste. Despite Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1978 and Government of India’s efforts to make the legislation effective, marriages of boys and girls below legal ages continue to be a social reality. The study highlights factors and beliefs that promote child marriages of girls. Finally, the study attempts to identify socioeconomic factors associated with the practice of child marriages.

Caste is an integral component of Indian society . Marriages within the same caste is the norm of the society. Marriages between castes is a difficult and socially unacceptable proposition. The major objectives of the present study are (a) to analyse the extent, pattern and spatial distribution of inter-caste marriages in India and (b) to understand and explore the socio-economic and cultural determinants of inter-caste marriages in India. The study uses the data of nationally representative National Family Health Survey-3(2005-06)) having a sample size of 43102 ever married women and their husbands. All the castes are grouped into three categories and arranged in descending order of caste hierarchy namely Others, OBC(Other Backward Class) and SC(Scheduled Caste). If a woman belonging to higher caste marries to a man belonging to lower caste, then it is considered as an inter-caste marriage and the vice versa is also true. It is found that about 10 percent of the total marriages in India are inter-caste which is quite encouraging and a positive sign of change in the society.

This paper uses evidence from focus groups to identify and explain similarities and differences in the perceived role that cohabitation plays in the family formation process in the UK and Australia. Specifically we focus on differences in perceived barriers towards marriage, attitudes towards cohabitation as a setting for childbearing and knowledge and understanding of laws relating to cohabiting couple families. The two country analysis form part of a wider comparative project, led by Perelli-Harris, within which researchers have conducted focus group interviews in ten different developed countries. In each country the same interview guide was used with the aim of comparing cross-nationally the meaning of cohabitation and marriage. Australia and the UK are two English-speaking nations with broadly similar demographics in terms of post-war changes in fertility and family formation characterised by the postponement of marriage and childbearing, an increase in non-marital cohabitation and non-marital childbearing. There are however important differences in the legal position of cohabitors. We investigate whether these differences lead to alternative perceptions as to the acceptability of cohabitation as a setting for childbearing and differential knowledge of the law regarding married and cohabiting couples in the two countries.

Anticipating changes in the number, size and composition of households are an important element of many issues of social concern. To fulfil the objectives, three rounds of National Family Health Survey conducted in 1992-1993, 1998-1999 and 2005-2006 have been used. Over the time period there has been decline in the household size from 1992-1993 to 2005-2006. Different dimensions of household size and composition have been studied by considering size of the household, age composition, members’ relationship to head, household complexity, sex of head and household structure as well as association between household size and structure. The second part of the paper depicts that household size is lower in urban areas than in rural areas. Eventually it can be stated that number of children in the household has negative relation whereas number of adults in the household has positive relation with the wealth quintiles.

This paper highlights the insights from focus group research on childbearing within cohabitation in Russia, conducted as a part of comparative international research on the topic. The goal of the study is to provide deeper understanding of underlying patterns for people choice of the type of union. Russia is an interesting case study because legislation here is unfavourable to cohabitation, prioritizing marriage, yet raising number of people do cohabit, especially in the last decades. Free discussions on 8 focus groups in Moscow revealed deep issue of trust between man and woman (understood differently), lying in the basis of preferences for marriage or cohabitation. Lack of trust to the State makes legal restrictions virtually irrelevant. Religious beliefs of participants provide with foundation for ‘three stages of commitment’ theory, where cohabitation marks the lowest commitment, marriage the average, and wedding in a church the highest. Accordingly, marriage ought to take place several years before wedding. Children serve as a pretext, but not a reason, to marry. In-depth values of responsibility, freedom, ‘property’ and gender (in)equality form men and women behaviour in studied area. More detailed analysis of how the revealed underlying factors interplay will be developed in the full paper.

If today Hajnal would have had to use proportions single from census data to characterize marriage regimes of countries in terms of marriage timing and intensity, he would be faced with the widespread phenomenon of non-marital cohabitation which is increasingly dissociating relationship status from legal marital status. The main objective of the paper is therefore to document how historically and currently censuses have dealt with the issue of cohabitation. To do so, we have exhaustively analyzed of 900+ census questionnaires, representing about 200 countries, covering most of the world's population from 1970 to 2010. The inventory showed that direct ways in which cohabitation is captured include using the question on marital status (e.g. common-law marriage), a separate question on consensual unions (if available) and on the relationship to the head of household (e.g. spouse). Indirect way include the presence, or existence, of own children (mainly asked to women). As the spread of cohabitation has increased the proportion single in many countries, the census measure ‘legal marital status’ is losing its validity and practical use as an indicator of union status. While some censuses now capture current cohabitation, capturing the ‘ever in cohabitation’ is still a challenge.

Divorce is still a taboo in Pakistan with the socio-cultural norms and existing laws encouraging a couple to remain in unhappy union than to end it. Despite these factors, however, the trend for divorce is showing an increasing trend, albeit a very slow one. Similarly, a woman remarrying exposes her to public scrutiny and is looked down upon keeping the rates very low. Using data from the Pakistan DHS 2006-2007, the paper will looks into: the trends of divorce and remarriage over time; and the factors associated with these trends, including, age at marriage, duration of marriage; number of marriages, educational levels, nature of spouse selection, parity, income and rural-urban divide, along with looking at the relevant religious and legal connotations to the phenomenon. The divorce rates are surprisingly higher in rural areas than in urban areas. Factors, like better education, higher labour force participation, and nuclear family, generally associated with a higher divorce rate do not seem to be working in the conventional direction in the country. Trends for remarriage do not show any systematic pattern but the figures give an impression that once a woman goes through a divorce and remarries, the likelihood of getting divorced again increases.

The last several decades have seen a rise in female age at marriage in Asia. As age at marriage increases, prior research directs us to expect a shorter first marital birth interval. Empirical evidence largely bears this out. However, the relationship between increasing age at marriage and shorter first birth intervals is neither direct, monotonic, nor universal. The prevailing sociological explanation proffered for this relationship invokes coital frequency and hints at a link to features of the marriage regime beyond marriage timing alone. Yet, social mechanisms relating the marriage regime to marriage timing or the first birth interval remain inadequately specified. This study adds to this body of knowledge by examining the influence of multiple factors characterizing the marriage regime (hypergamy, endogamy, marital choice, premarital practices) and gender context on the timing of the first marital birth. It uses IHDS data, a nationally representative survey of Indian households with detailed variables on marriage practices, fertility, and gender relations. An additive series of regression models analyses whether the inclusion of marriage regime and gender norm variables alters the observed relationship between marriage timing and the first birth interval and explains the variation across regions and population subgroups.

According to household surveys, some 4% of inhabitants in France ‘usually’ live in more than one dwelling. Previous studies have shown that having more than one “usual” dwelling is the most common among young adults, who have left their parental home but are still “usually living with their parents”. Having two homes regularly increases with age for children, as parental couples experience separation. Very rare around age 30, multiple residence increases up to retirement age for adults, reaching a second mode at ages 55-85.

Focusing on adults, the present paper will describe the family situation and working status of two-home adults. Concerning couples around retirement age, two assumptions will be discussed: first, the case where both members of couples are commuting together between two “usual residences”, the former holiday home becoming a second usual residence. Second, while having more than one home is a transitory situation at younger ages, this situation is more stable around retirement age. These assumptions will be checked using two new French datasets, the “Family and Dwellings” survey, a one percent survey which took place within the 2011 census, and a dataset gathering a collection of household surveys including the same set of questions on multiple residence.

Marriage in South Asia have reported transition in the selection of spouse from arranged, choice of spouse by parents, to love marriage, choice of spouse left to the individual to be married. This paper examines marriage in the Bangladeshi cultural context. This paper first examines the qualities that are valued while selecting a groom/bride. Second,lived marriage experience of female study participants is examined in the light of arranged versus love marriage. Third, use of agency in negotiation of arranged marriage.Finally, role of education on spouse selection is explored. Data were collected from rural Matlab and urban Dhaka. This paper is based on 32 in-depth interviews, combined with participant observation , and a small scale survey (n=400) conducted among currently married women. From a marriage point of view rich and educated boys are valued. Beautiful girls with white skin and competence in household chores are valued. Altruistic norm encourages older generation to choose spouse for the younger generation, which the latter are expected to accept. Participants who have opted for love marriage have experienced opposition from family. Majority of participants with arranged marriage have expressed disappointment over early marriage because in most cases they had to drop out from school after marriage.