Thirty Years of Consanguineous Marriages in Pakistan
Almost half of all marriages in Pakistan are consanguineous. Despite its high prevalence, little is known about the change over time in consanguineous unions in Pakistan. Examining the patterns of the cousin marriages is particularly important given the substantial improvement in women’s education...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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National University of Sciences and Technology
2023-03-01
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| Series: | NUST Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities |
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| Online Access: | https://njssh.nust.edu.pk/index.php/njssh/article/view/154 |
| _version_ | 1797741397060616192 |
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| author | Saima Bashir Saman Nazir |
| author_facet | Saima Bashir Saman Nazir |
| author_sort | Saima Bashir |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
Almost half of all marriages in Pakistan are consanguineous. Despite its high prevalence, little is known about the change over time in consanguineous unions in Pakistan. Examining the patterns of the cousin marriages is particularly important given the substantial improvement in women’s education which is often associated with the decline in consanguineous unions across the world. Our analysis, based on four waves of nationally representative Pakistan Demographic and Health Surveys - PDHS (1990-91, 2006-07, 2012-13, and 2017-18), shows that the prevalence of consanguineous unions remains stable over time. Further, women’s education is negatively associated with cousin marriages. Hypergamous (husband is more educated than her wife) unions are more prevalent, but a consistent rise in educational hypogamy (wife is more educated than her husband) is observed during this time. The results show that consanguineous marriages are more likely to be hypogamous than non-consanguineous marriages. Moreover, contraceptive use is lower among women in consanguineous unions. An inverse relationship has been found between the mean fertility and cousin marriages. Women in consanguineous marriages are likely to have fewer children than women in non-consanguineous marriages. Overall, the results show that consanguinity patterns are stable, and there is no evidence that the societal changes such as improvement in women’s education and urbanization over time have led to a decline in cousin marriages in Pakistan.
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| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T14:26:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3acb95c272144044bf8526a5050fd9bd |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2520-503X 2523-0026 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T14:26:06Z |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
| publisher | National University of Sciences and Technology |
| record_format | Article |
| series | NUST Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities |
| spelling | doaj.art-3acb95c272144044bf8526a5050fd9bd2023-08-18T05:43:06ZengNational University of Sciences and TechnologyNUST Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities2520-503X2523-00262023-03-018310.51732/njssh.v8i3.154Thirty Years of Consanguineous Marriages in PakistanSaima Bashir0Saman Nazir1Senior Research Demographer, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics(PIDE), Islamabad, PakistanSenior Research Economist, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), Islamabad, Pakistan Almost half of all marriages in Pakistan are consanguineous. Despite its high prevalence, little is known about the change over time in consanguineous unions in Pakistan. Examining the patterns of the cousin marriages is particularly important given the substantial improvement in women’s education which is often associated with the decline in consanguineous unions across the world. Our analysis, based on four waves of nationally representative Pakistan Demographic and Health Surveys - PDHS (1990-91, 2006-07, 2012-13, and 2017-18), shows that the prevalence of consanguineous unions remains stable over time. Further, women’s education is negatively associated with cousin marriages. Hypergamous (husband is more educated than her wife) unions are more prevalent, but a consistent rise in educational hypogamy (wife is more educated than her husband) is observed during this time. The results show that consanguineous marriages are more likely to be hypogamous than non-consanguineous marriages. Moreover, contraceptive use is lower among women in consanguineous unions. An inverse relationship has been found between the mean fertility and cousin marriages. Women in consanguineous marriages are likely to have fewer children than women in non-consanguineous marriages. Overall, the results show that consanguinity patterns are stable, and there is no evidence that the societal changes such as improvement in women’s education and urbanization over time have led to a decline in cousin marriages in Pakistan. https://njssh.nust.edu.pk/index.php/njssh/article/view/154MarriagesConsanguineousPDHSEducationPakistan |
| spellingShingle | Saima Bashir Saman Nazir Thirty Years of Consanguineous Marriages in Pakistan NUST Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Marriages Consanguineous PDHS Education Pakistan |
| title | Thirty Years of Consanguineous Marriages in Pakistan |
| title_full | Thirty Years of Consanguineous Marriages in Pakistan |
| title_fullStr | Thirty Years of Consanguineous Marriages in Pakistan |
| title_full_unstemmed | Thirty Years of Consanguineous Marriages in Pakistan |
| title_short | Thirty Years of Consanguineous Marriages in Pakistan |
| title_sort | thirty years of consanguineous marriages in pakistan |
| topic | Marriages Consanguineous PDHS Education Pakistan |
| url | https://njssh.nust.edu.pk/index.php/njssh/article/view/154 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT saimabashir thirtyyearsofconsanguineousmarriagesinpakistan AT samannazir thirtyyearsofconsanguineousmarriagesinpakistan |