Pakistan International Peace & Human Rights Organization
Nindo Shaher District Badin Sindh Pakistan

SPECIFIC CONCLUSION

Age at marriage is on the increase throughout the world, although a substantial number of adolescent girls still marry early. Data from 40 Demographic and Health Surveys in developing countries show that up to 50 percent of women marry by age 18. Singh and Samara (1996) note that studies identify the socioeconomic factors most influencing a woman�s age at marriage as: female labor force participation, acquisition of formal education, and urbanization. In countries with a higher proportion of women with secondary education, the proportion of women who marry in adolescence is lower.

The consequences of early marriage for the development of young women in particular have yet to be adequately researched. One reason for this is that the needs of adolescents are not yet recognized as specific and valid enough to ensure major program and policy interventions. Mensch et al. maintain �that a girl remains an adolescent � with stage-specific vulnerabilities, capacities, and development opportunities � roughly from the time she turns 10 until she turns 20, whether or not she marries or gives birth. Recognition of this fact will help to bring much-deserved attention to the large proportion of adolescent girls who become wives before they become adults� (Mensch et al. 1998: 70).

In Pakistan, the average age at marriage is increasing for both men and women, and at a faster rate for the latter. The singulate mean age at marriage according to the Pakistan Fertility and Family Planning Survey 1996-97 (Hakim et al. 1998) is 26.5 for men and 22 for women. PCPS data show the traditionally larger age gap between spouses is shrinking, with only 18 percent of married women ages 15-19 married to men ten or more years older, while 28 percent of married women 35-39 are married to men over a decade older. Age at marriage is slightly lower for both men and women in rural than in urban areas, and is substantially higher, particularly for women, with increased levels of education. (Population Council et al. 1998)

According to the most recent figures, as shown in Table 11, a substantial proportion of adolescents and youth are married. There is a strong bias in favor of females marrying younger than males, most dramatically so among adolescents. While the PFFPS figures show that the proportion of married adolescent girls is less than in earlier surveys, there is still clearly a strong tendency toward girls marrying at a young age, and particularly before age 25. In rural areas, the earliest age at marriage is lower for both males and females than in urban areas. For example, at age 19, 85 percent of females in major urban areas are single, while only 58 percent are single in rural areas. (Hakim et al. 1998)

The figures in Table 12 provide further data adding depth to the reality of age at marriage figures. Whereas Table11 shows how many adolescents are currently married, it cannot predict how many have yet to marry by age 19. Table 12 shows that over half of women ages 20-24 were married as adolescents (i.e., before age 20). Even among men the comparable figure of 13 percent is much higher than the proportion of current adolescents who are married. An analysis of Pakistan Integrated Household Survey 1990-91 data (Durrant 1998) finds that the factors associated with higher rates of marriage as an adolescent were: being female, living in a rural area, living in the NWFP or Balochistan, never having attended school, and having illiterate parents and/or parents with low levels of education.

Adolescents, particularly girls, who marry do not necessarily wish to do so. A study of female autonomy and relations within marriage in Egypt found that among girls who married before age 16, only 1 in 10 chose their husband, while 40 percent of those who married after age 25 selected their spouse. (Mensch et al. 1998) In Pakistan, arranged marriages are still the norm and female status is significantly lower than that of males. In this context, girls� decisionmaking power in timing and choice of spouse is obviously limited, but further research is required to determine under what circumstances early marriage is against the will of the adolescent girl.

A series of focus group discussions (Population Council 1999) with adolescent boys and girls in rural Punjab revealed that they have different approaches to the question of marriage timing and choice. While boys felt the ideal age at marriage was between 18-29 years, girls limited the range to 20-25 years only � out of the adolescent years. Interestingly, boys said that the choice of spouse should rest with both the boy and girl and that they did express their own views on the matter, while girls generally felt that parents should be trusted to find them a suitable match but girls ought to be consulted.

Singh and Samara (1996) point out that married adolescent girls are likely to find motherhood the sole focus of their lives, at the expense of development in other areas, such as formal education, training for employment, work experience, and personal growth. The fact that Pakistan still has a substantial number of married adolescent girls implies, using Singh and Samara�s analysis, that these girls have not had the education or employment opportunities associated with delayed marriage and reside predominantly in the rural areas. This is supported by the analysis in the PCPS report showing that age at marriage is lowest in rural areas and increases with education. (Population Council et al. 1998)