NUST JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES
Vol.3 No.1 (January-June 2017) pp.71- 94

Differentials in Female Age at Marriage in Pakistan:Have they Changed or Not?
Aneel ShahzadAbstract:
Age at marriage is an important factor to study the marriage patterns of acountry because of strong relationship between age at first marriage and childbearing.
In this study, effects of one major socio-cultural factor female education and place ofresidence have been illustrated. The present study attempted to find differentials infemale age at marriage in Pakistan since Pakistan has begun to face early demographictransition since 90’s. The investigation of differentials in female age at marriage in thisstudy is generally based on data analysis of Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey(PDHS) 2006-07. While comparative analysis also discussed in a separate section withfindings of PDHS, 2012-13. The age at first marriage of women lived in major urban
areas seemed to carry with them the influence of the urban lifestyle and are also
influenced by the educational enrollment opportunities.
Keywords: Female age at first marriage; Years of schooling; Urbanization

1. INTRODUCTION
Female age at first marriage which is an important dimension of
population dynamics in demographic perspectives is found to besignificantly associated with potential period of childbearing in a society.
In the traditional Pakistani society, marriage at an early age and earlychildbearing are strongly encouraged. It is found in several studies thatfemale age at marriage is affected by different socio-economic andcultural factors like; education, urbanization and work patterns [Afzal, etal. (1976) and Hashmi and Zafar (2000)]. Hence, there is a need to findout the influence of education and urban residence on female age atmarriage and delayed marriage decisions. The present study thus focuseson the question of how urbanization and education influences the female
age at marriage in Pakistani society.
 Aneel Shahzad <shahzad_aneel@yahoo.com> is Demographer and former Research

Associate with Population Welfare Department Government of the Punjab, Pakistan.

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Aneel Shahzad

In the cultural context of Pakistani society, a marriage generallymeans a relationship between families rather than only between the
couple concerned [Fazalbhoy (2006)]. Further, marriages in Pakistanisociety require the Nikah (marriage contract), which is binding on bothparties, and the Mehr (An agreed amount paid by groom to bride as per
Islamic law) which is a gift given by the groom to the bride on theoccasion of marriage, for a marriage to be considered legally and sociallyacceptable.
It is preferred that marriages should be arranged by parents rather
than by the couple concerned [Shaw (2001) and Hussain (1999)]. Apartfrom sectarian differences, South Asian Muslims are divided into
communities, called Biraderi (Group of community members belonging
to same caste), Jamaat (group), and Khandan (Family) to name a few.
These communities or groups in South Asian region have different
traditions which arise out of the caste to which they had belonged
prior to their migrational history or the region to which they belong
may practice exogamy. Endogamy is preferred by the previously
discussed communities, the stipulation being more strongly enforced for
women, so as to preserve community identity [Hussain (1999)].
In general, marriage is universal for girls, and early marriage ispreferred [Fazalbhoy (2006)]. Marriage is seen as the best security for a
girl. Chastity is highly valued for girls and is a reason for preferring earlymarriage. Marriages are preferably arranged by parents, and suchmarriages have a higher status in the opinion than love marriages, where
the couples have exercised their own choice [Fazalbhoy (2006)].
While the legal age at marriage is 18 in Pakistan the average age
for first marriages among women is 18.8 [PDHS (1990)]. It is estimatedthat less than 50 percent of women in Pakistan marry before the age of
15 years as mentioned in PDHS 1990-91. Age at marriage is mostimportant to study as; Pakistani society takes marriage as a natural andexpected part of being a grown-up, and they continue to get married forfamily formation and childbearing in early ages [Afzal, et al. (1994) andSathar and Kiani (1986)].
Age at marriage is an important factor to study the marriage
patterns of a country because of strong relationship between age at firstmarriage and childbearing. In most of the Muslim societies, childbearingDifferentials in Female Age at Marriage

73

starts after marriage. For instance, in North Sudan pre-marital sex isforbidden by Islamic culture and marriage is necessary for family
formation and so childbearing [WFS Report (1975)]. Various studies inmarriage have shown that marriage patterns are affected by a number ofsocio-economic factors, cultural factors, religious and ethnicity factors.
For instance, in the Republic of Korea several socio-economic, culturaland ethnic factors have considerably affected the individuals age atmarriage [Kim and Stinner (1980)]. Similar positive relationship havebeen found for these determinants of age at marriage in different
traditional societies like Bangladesh, India and Tunisia as well as inmodernized societies like Japan, Malaysia and Thailand [WFS (1975),
Aryee (1985), Goyal (1988) and Badrud Duza and Baldwin (1976)].
Some other major factors which can affect female age at marriage
includes urbanization as, in many countries participated in the World
Fertility Survey [WFS (1985)] found that significant differentials exists
in female age at marriage by urban and rural areas. The above discussion
shows that urbanization and female education, considerably effects
female age at first marriage in a society. In the present study these factors
are considered to explain the effects on female age at first marriage inPakistan using the Pakistan demographic and Health Survey 2006-07
while in comparison with findings from PDHS, 2012-13.
In Pakistani society marriage is a universal phenomenon andconsanguineous marriage is a major feature of the society [Afzal, et al.
(1994), Shaw (2001) and Bittles (1994)]. Mostly marriages are practiced
as a religious obligation for family formation and child bearing because
most of the childbearing occurs within marriages in Pakistan [Sathar andKiani (1986)]. Moreover, marriages are particularly arranged by parents
or guardians of a family in Pakistan [Shaw (2001)]. It is reported in a
number of demographic studies that in Pakistan, age at marriage isparticularly lower in consanguineous marriages which are contracted
between close kins as compared to non-consanguineous marriages[Afzal, et al. (1994), Shaw (2001), Bittles (1994) and Hussain (1999)].
Age at marriage is affected by several socio-economic variables andleads to marital postponement [Duza and Baldwin (1976)]. It is
documented in many marriage studies that other modernity factors likethe socio-economic factors, female education, women’s participation in

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Aneel Shahzadlabour market and increasing urbanization are the leading factors toincrease the female age at marriage [Goyal (1988) and Duza and Baldwin(1976)].
2. LITERATURE REVIEWThe present paper studies age at first marriage because of its
strong relationship with population dynamics like fertility and also its
prevalence in demographic literature. Women’s years of schooling waschosen because there is a natural correlation between age at marriage andeducation level (i.e., higher the education, higher will be the age at firstmarriage). The second variable place of residence has been described as
the other best predictor of marital postponement. The question analyzed
in this study whether differences in female age at marriage in Pakistan
can be predicted by female education level and by type of place ofresidence. Differentials in female age of first marriage for educatedfemales from urban and rural background are also analyzed to find out
any significant changes in female age at first marriage in Pakistan.
Therefore, the focus of this study is whether place of residence as well
as differences in education level are correlated with female age of firstmarriage and if not so then what can be other associated factors.
Karim (1984) observed variations in age at marriage of evermarried women from Pakistan Fertility Survey (PFS) and concluded in
his study that female age at marriage has increased in Pakistan during
the past decades especially during the 1960’s. During the decade of
1960’s Pakistan also experienced an expansion of rural economy throughthe growth of non-agricultural sector due to pace of increasing
urbanization. The author identified a number of factors that were associated and differentials in age at first marriage of females such as; regionof residence, and childhood place of residence, provincial and ethnic
affiliations, women’s educational attainment and the levels of female
labour force participation. Moreover, the author argued that a variety ofsocial changes lead to variations in marriage pattern so females. Anotherstudy of age at marriage examined these social changes in the Pakistanisociety using the term social change [Afzal, et al. (1976)].

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Sathar and Kiani (1986) examined the data from the migration
module of the Population, Labour Force and Migration (PLM) Survey of
1979 to explore the impact of modernity factors like education, modern
occupations, urbanization and migration on age at marriage by current
age groups in Pakistan. The authors concluded that the study showed asubstantial increase in proportion never married during the 1960s andsubsequently until 1981. The results of the study showed that proportion
never married for females in the age 15-29 age groups has increased andthis increase was more pronounced for females than males in the sameage-group. Moreover, delayed marriages occurred to a greater extent
among young educated females living in urban areas than among thefemales of rural background.
Changes in marriage patterns have been at the core of
demographic transitions in Europe and also in the Asian countries[Caldwell (1993)]. It is based on the assumption that most of thechildbearing occurs within marriage in Pakistan and delayed marriagesof females has direct impact of delaying the age of sexual initiation andthe age at first birth [Sathar and Kiani (1998)]. The important findingsof the study were that rising female age at marriage is the main factor for
decreasing fertility levels especially a decline in marital fertility.
However, an emerging trend of marriage squeeze is also introduced in
the study that has its own implications for the process of population
growth rate in Pakistan. The authors also showed that marriages aredelaying for females in Pakistan and conversely there is a rise in nevermarried proportions in the age-groups of 15-29.
Female age at marriage is strongly associated with fertility andtherefore levels of fertility in a society. The focus of this study is on
determining factors which affect directly female age at first marriage inPakistan. As women make up half the country’s population so it isimportant to examine whether their delayed age at marriage affects levelsof number of children and fertility in different spheres of society
undermine the county’s potential for reduction in fertility. Specifically,
this study analyzed effect of female education and place of residence on
women’s age at marriage to measure factors of delay in age of firstmarriage for women in Pakistan.

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On the other hand Sathar and Kiani (1998), in a study it has also
been observed that the delay in marriages does not show any differentials
by education as it is hard to conclude using cross-sectional data that risein age at marriage is caused by pursuit of educational opportunities
particularly because it is occurring even among uneducated people.
While in recent times education and particularly female education isrising. In the context of this research study the differentiating factors ofinterest were assumed to be influencing female age of first marriage inthe country and therefore considered to analyze using Pakistan
Demographic and Health survey [PDHS (2006-07)].
Women’s higher education and participation in decision–making
in Pakistani society seems to be an indicator of progress and linked todelay in their age of first marriage and number of children. This
happened in Pakistan whenever the evolving indicators of genderequality paved the way of Pakistani society for any transformation.
Similarly, delay in female age at first marriage is associated with socioeconomic indicators particularly women empowerment and thatmarriage is usually associated with the formation of a separate householdfrom the family of origin and the creation of a new family in our society.
In demographic terms comparison with developed nations
Maubrigades (2015), reported that the changing pattern of marriage inEuropean societies has been enormously important as a regulatory
mechanism in population growth. In this context, during thedemographic transition the European marriage pattern contributed to a
decline in fertility because people married later and many people did notmarry at all. According to an important current of thought in historicaldemography, the age at which people first marry at least in Western
Europe is an important determinant of population growth. While in thecontext of Pakistan, focusing on demographic theory which has one mainfeature of delay in women’s age at first marriage this study has studied
effects of some modern factors like female education and urban place ofresidence. Further, all independent variables are discussed briefly
below:•
Urbanization
Urbanization is positively associated with age at a marriage ofindividuals as different studies on marriage patterns reported higher age

Differentials in Female Age at Marriage

77

at marriage for urban females than rural women [Smith (1980) and Goyal(1976)]. However, there are also major differentials in female age atmarriage by type of place of residence, i.e., Major urban, other urban andrural. Goyal (1976) reviewed various studies of Indian age at marriage
patterns and found that women living in major urban areas generally
have higher age at first marriage than the females living in the otherurban areas or town. The author also documented state variations infemale age at marriage as females from metropolitan areas like Mumbai
mostly have higher age at first marriage than the females from otherurban and rural areas. Thus, it is argued that women living in
metropolitan areas and big cities are more likely to delay marriages than
the females from towns and rural areas [Mahmood and Ali (1984)]. The
final factor of focus in this study is place of residence prior to marriage.
This is further broken down into major urban, other urban and rural
regions, as this method has not been used in previous research. Place ofresidence has been studied infrequently in relation to marital
postponement, which are also less prevalent than the second variable ofeducation level.
•
Role of Education
Education is the major factor associated with female age atmarriage in Pakistan. A number of studies [Karim (1984), Afzal, et al.
(1985), Aryee (1985), Gangadharan and Maitra (2000) and
Psacharopoulos and Woodhall (1985)] have shown that women’s
education levels are closely associated with age at first marriage offemales. It is also argued that a rise in women’s education level leads toincrease in the age at marriage and at the age at which women have theirfirst birth are key features of demographic transition in any country
which further leads to nuptiality transition [Gangadharan and Maitra(2000) and Duza and Baldwin (1976)]. These studies have shown that
education considerably affects the marriage timing and leads to higher
age at marriage for educated females. Given that education level
generally increases as age increases and that age is positively correlatedwith marital postponement, it seems reasonable to suggest that educationlevel would be positively correlated with later age at marriage. Whilestudies have explored whether higher education for women could be
predictive of marital postponement has been explored, no studies have

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Aneel Shahzad

been devoted specifically to whether any factors other than educationlevel are related to delayed marriages.
•
Type of Residence
Nuptiality transition in various developing countries shows that
there are significant urban-rural differentials in the timing of firstmarriage for females [Smith and Karim (1978) Karim (1994), Goyal(1976), Mahmood and Ali (1984) and UN (1981)]. It can be argued thaturbanization through the expansion of rural economy brings a socialchange in a society that can influence marriage timing of individuals ina country [Afzal, et al. (1976)]. Urban-rural differentials in female age
at marriage in Pakistan have increased due to the pace of urbanization in
Pakistan over the past decades [Abbasi (1987) and Arif and Ibrahim(1998)]. Aryee (1985) in his study argued that an urban location is muchdifferent from a town or rural counterpart because its population tends tobe more heterogeneous in its characteristics such as ethnic variations,education levels, labour force opportunities, etc. This heterogeneity also
affects the attitudes, beliefs and behaviour patterns of a population
towards marriage decisions than that of rural households. Afzal, et al.
(1976) in a study of marriage patterns in Lahore suburbs has shown thatwomen living in urban areas marry later than women in rural areas.
Therefore, urban women particularly show higher age at marriage ascompared to females living in rural areas.
3. RATIONALE
In the context of rise in women's education levels, an increase in
the age at marriage and an increase in the age at which they have theirfirst child are key features of demographic transition in any country.
Education is considered to be an essential component in this process
because increases in educational attainment are likely to significantly
affect both age at marriage and the duration between marriage and firstbirth - in particular increasing both the age at marriage and the time to
first child. Similarly, place of residence and life style significantly effects
timing of first marriage. As in urban areas women’s age at first marriage
is generally higher than those living in rural areas. While both of theseDifferentials in Female Age at Marriage

79

discussed factors have strong influence on female’s age of first marriage
in a community.
The present study attempted to find differentials in female age atmarriage in Pakistan since Pakistan has begun to face early demographictransition since 1990s which generally starts from delayed marriages
through rising female age at marriage. The female age at first marriage
is strongly associated with reproductive life span or years of childbearing. In Pakistan, where maternal death toll is still on 76 deaths per
100000 live births and infant mortality is still high to about 78 deaths
per 1000 live births. Female age at marriage effects years of childbearing, age at first pregnancy, mother and child health and also average
number of children. There is a need to provide improved counseling tomarried women who married at younger age about child bearing andhealth care. This study will measure factors of interest which cancontribute to rise age at marriage in the culture of Pakistan. Particularlyin this study effect of education and place of residence (urban/rural) has
been measured.
In Pakistan where a sufficient percentage of women married toage group 15-24, maternal and child health (MNCH), child bearing,number of children, demand and practice of family planning methods
and unmet need for contraception are critically associated components
which could be studied in separate context.
Objectives of Study
This study only focused on differentials in female age at firstmarriage in Pakistan and estimated influencing of female education
which is a socio-cultural factor. Therefore, the major objectives of thepresent study are to:• Study the patterns and levels of female age at first marriage inPakistan;• Analyze the differentials in female age of marriage by ruralurban place of residence in Pakistan; and• Examine the differentials in female age at marriage by level of
education.

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4. METHODOLOGY
4.1 Data Source
The investigation of differentials in female age at marriage in thisstudy is generally based on primary and to some extent secondary data
analysis which particularly obtained from Pakistan Demographic and
Health Survey (PDHS) 2006-07. PDHS is a national level survey of evermarried women of reproductive aged 15-49 years and used as primarysource of data in this study. It is the second survey of its type which was
conducted in Pakistan since its unification in 1990-91 [NIPS (1990-91)
and (2006-07)]. This survey collected information on child health, marriage, fertility, family planning, fertility preferences, prenatal care andmaternal mortality. 10,601 ever-married married were identified as
eligible respondents in the survey while 10,023 successful interviews
were conducted from eligible women in the households and the response
rate was 94.5 percent (Figure.1).
Figure 1. Distribution of Ever-married Women age 15-49 Years by
Region (PDHS 2006-07)
70000
60000

58000

Frequency

50000
40000

30000
20000
10000

2410

1351

462

Sindh

NWFP

Balochistan

0
PunjabOf the 10,023 eligible women who were interviewed in thesurvey, 9556 women were identified as currently married women.
Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (PDHS) 2006-07 covered allDifferentials in Female Age at Marriage

81

the four provinces of Pakistan excluding the Federally Administrated
Northern Areas (FANA), military restricted areas and protected areas.
While comparative analysis also discussed in a separate section withfindings of PDHS, 2012-13.
Geographical representation of respondents in PDHS 2006-07
shows that Punjab and Sindh have highest percentage, i.e., 57.9 percent
and 24 percent respectively while NWFP and Balochistan have lower
percentage of ever-married women that were interviewed in PDHS 200607.
4.2 Measurements
The dependent variable in the present study was female age atfirst marriage based on a question for ever-married women’squestionnaire that measured in years that; “how old were you when you
first started living with husband?” Month and year of first marriage arealso asked from the respondents in the survey.
The independent variables include the social and some othercharacteristics of ever-married women which are hypothesized toinfluence female age at marriage in Pakistan. The control group variables
include women’s education level and work experience before and after
marriage, province, region, type of residence and husband’s educationand occupation. Table 1 presents the measurements of all these variables.
ANOVA technique was used to examine the influence ofvariables such as; female education and place of residence on female age
at marriage in Pakistan. The dependent variable in ANOVA analyses
examined the changes and differentials in female age at first marriage by
women’ years of schooling, and by type of place of residence separately.
Secondly, logistic regression was also applied for further analysis in thisstudy, in dichotomous form of dependent variable of female age at firstmarriage. The purpose of this analysis was to measure the effect ofcertain independent variables of social factors which affecting female
age at marriage in Pakistan including; years of schooling, and type ofplace of residence.

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Aneel Shahzad

Table 1. Socio-economic Characteristics of Ever-Married Women(aged 15-49)
Variable

Category

Region of Residence

Urban
Rural

Current Place of Residence

Major Urban
Other Urban
Rural

Respondent’s Education Level

No Schooling
1--4 Years
5--8 Years
9--12 Years
13+ Years
16 + Years

5. DATA ANALYSIS•

Bivariate Analysis

In addition to evaluate the relationships between variables,
researchers are often interested in comparing two or more groups ofpeople. As members of the same group changed over time or if there aresome differences among the groups on defined criteria. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) is mathematically a ratio (the F value), comparing the distribution of values from a variable among three or moregroups in terms of the variance within the groups. Similarly, variances
are deviations from the means hence we can use ANOVA to comparemeans. When there are greater differences between the categories than
within the categories then we can conclude that differences in the meansof a variable among the three or more groups being compared arestatistically significant. When the variances between categories are
similar to the variances within each category and the ratio is around 1.0
which resulting in a conclusion of no significant differences in meansamong the groups being compared [Nardi (2006)].

Differentials in Female Age at Marriage

83

In this section bivariate analysis is conducted to find the effects
of key factors associated with the female age at first marriage. All
statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS 13.0 and 16.0. In order tofind whether a relationship exists between the independent variables ofurban-rural place of residence and education level, and the dependent
variable of age at first marriage ANOVA technique is used in this study.
This method of analysis is appropriate because it illustrates whether there
are relationships between variables which is the major approach of thisstudy.
The dependent variable in the analysis was female age at firstmarriage measured in years. Factors associated with the delayed
marriages have been assigned two conceptual categories of whether the
ever-married sampled women had attended school which measured inyears of schooling, and the factors associated, whether they lived in
major urban areas, other urban areas or rural region.
While from a total of 10,023 married women of reproductive age(15-49) years, more than half the sample of women showed no-education
prior to marriage, more than 50 percent of women aged between 15 and49 years started living with their husband i.e. got married with noeducation, about 20 percent women married with primary education or
higher and only 06 percent completed secondary or more education at
the time when they were living with their husbands.
The results revealed that with almost secondary or higher yearsof schooling, age at first marriage, increased for women in Pakistanisociety. While looking at the relationship between the timing of firstmarriage and type of place of residence, we find that women who lived
in major urban areas prior to marriage have a significantly higher age atfirst marriage of over one year in comparison to the 66 percent of thesample whose age at first marriage is one year lower than the women
living in major urban areas. The next higher age at first marriage foundamong women who lived in major urban areas and at the same time hadhigher years of schooling with an average of more than 03 years. It isinteresting to note that almost a half of the sample had no education at
all and had the lowest age at first marriage among all the educationgroups (Table 2).

84Aneel Shahzad

Table 2. ANOVA Results Mean Age at First Marriage of Evermarried Women age 15-49 Years by Years of Schooling
Independent Variable

Years of Schooling
No Schooling
1-4 Years
5-8 Years
9-10 Years
11-12 Years
13+ Years
Total

Mean Difference(One-way ANOVA)

Percent

N

P= 0.05
0.05*

64

6511

na**
0.77
2.21
3.21
4.75

5.0
15.6
8.1
3.9
3.4

478
1563
809
321
341

100

10023

* The result is significant at 1.00 level.
**There is not much mean difference because of lower percentage of women in this category.

Bivariate analysis presented that both the years of schooling andplace of residence are significantly associated with female age at firstmarriage. Women with more years of schooling have age of firstmarriage about 5 years greater, while women with secondary years ofschooling have a mean of about one year lower. On the other hand,
women who did not attend school or with limited education have majordifference in mean age at first marriage as compared to women withsecondary years of schooling or higher, as shown in the following table.
Similarly, women from major urban areas have higher age at firstmarriage within the sample of about (0.517 years) than women who did
not live in major urban areas prior to marriage. The results have shownthat rural women married about one years (-0.985 years) before than thewomen living in major urban or other urban areas (0.469 years).
Overall, the above given bivariate analysis presented in Table. 02
show that woman’s education in years and place of residence are strongly
associated with the length of her age at first marriage. Women who lived
in major urban areas have the highest age of first marriage with anaverage of 21 years, while those who lived in rural areas have the lowest
age of marriage. As expected, the age at first marriage of women lived
in major urban areas seemed to bring with them the influence of theurban environment and are also influenced by the school enrolling
opportunities. Women who spent their life in other urban counterparts
have a slightly lower average age of first marriage of 20 years than
women who lived in rural areas 18.5 years. Following table indicatedDifferentials in Female Age at Marriage

85

that women with no schooling showed greater difference than women
who have middle, secondary and higher education. As 64 percent women
were married with lower average age at first marriage than women withmore years of schooling.
Table 3 also presents the percent distributions of the variables
used in the analysis as well as the mean difference in age at first marriage
for females according to the variables of interest, using ANOVA to test
the significance of the differentials in female age at first marriage inPakistan. The results shown that women’s age at first marriage are
significantly affected by place of residence as women who have lived in
major urban areas have higher age at first marriage, with an average ofalmost one year, while those women who reported to be lived in rural
areas have almost one year lower age at first marriage. As expected, age
at first marriage of the women in the other urban category fall in between
these two figures. Hence, women seemed to influence by their living
environment. Women who lived in urban areas have a slightly higher
average age at first marriage (0.5 years) than women who lived in rural
areas (-0.985 years).
Table 3. ANOVA Results Mean Age at First Marriage of Ever-married
Women age 15-49 Years by Type of Place of Residence

Major Urban

Mean Difference(One-way ANOVA)
0.517

Other Urban

0.469

14.5

1452

Rural

-0.985

66.6

6673

100

10023

Independent Variable

Total

Percent

N

18.9

1898

The findings of this study highlighted the significant effects ofeducation and urban/rural place of timing of female marriage in
traditional society of Pakistan. Although, data in this study collectedfrom all four provinces of Pakistan, however, variations in the study were
not addressed by region rather overall findings have been presented
which represented age at first marriage for population groups fromdiverse backgrounds in the society of Pakistan. Secondly, results focused
only on the differentials in female age of first marriage and reported

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Aneel Shahzad

findings are similar with results of other studies of Pakistan and otherregions that female age at marriage strongly is strongly influenced byhigher education and urban lifestyle. Therefore, the results of this study
illustrate the fact that female age at first marriage is generally influenced
by different cultural and social factors in community settings as
discussed in several previous studies and in the literature.
5.2 Multivariate Analysis
Logistic regression is applied for further analysis in this study, indichotomous form of dependent variable of female age at first marriage.
The purpose of this analysis is to measure the effect of certain
independent variables which include social factor of female years ofschooling, and type of place of residence in Pakistani society.
Table 4 presents the OLS estimates from the multivariate analysisof female age at first marriage place of residence and years of schooling.
This analysis is based on two categories of age at first marriage, i.e.,
female age at first marriage <20 years and >20 years. We find whether
years of schooling and place of residence affect woman’s age of firstmarriage and how selected variables are significantly associated with thegap.
i. Age at First Marriage and Female Education
Pakistani society is a traditional society with very low literacy
rates particularly for females. Research has shown that women are more
likely to have delayed age at first marriage with higher education[Gangadharan and Maitra (2000) and Duza and Baldwin (1976)].
The analysis of selected variables in the following showed thatboth female years of schooling and place of residence are found to bestrongly associated with female age at first marriage. Compared to
women who have no or limited education with educated females have asignificantly longer interval by two years. Women with secondary yearsof schooling also have significantly later age at first marriage than thereference group.

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87

Table 4. OLS estimates of Female Age at First Marriage with Years of
Schooling and Place of Residence
Independent Variable

Coefficients B

Std.Error

Sig.

Years of Schooling
No Schooling
1-4 Yearsna*

5-8 Years

0.37

.068

0.00

9-10 Years

1.03

.081

0.00

11-12 Years

1.47

.114

0.00

13+ Years

2.35

.121

0.00

Other Urban

-.54

0.072

0.00

Rural

-.28

0.058

0.00

100

10023

Place of Residence
Major Urban

Total*There is not much mean difference because of lower percentage of women in this category.

ii. Female Age at First Marriage and Place of Residence
Similarly, moderate relationship between place of residence andfemale age of first marriage is explained in several demographic andsocial studies [Mahmood and Ali (1984), Smith (1980) and Goyal(1976)]. The analysis of selected variable in Table 4 presented the effects
of urban-rural residence on timing of female marriage in Pakistan. Itshows that place of residence is significantly associated with female ageof first marriage in Pakistani society. Compared to women in majorurban areas, those who live in rural regions have age at first marriage ofabout one year lower, while those who live in other urban have shorter
difference in female age of first marriage than the reference group.
However, the difference in female age at first marriage does varysignificantly in some regions. Women in other urban counterparts havegreater difference in age at first marriage than those who live in rural
areas and shorter difference with the reference category.

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Aneel Shahzad

6. DISCUSSION AND COMPARISON WITH PDHS
2012-13
Findings from PDHS, 2006-07 indicated that women who lived
in urban areas have the highest average age of first marriage, i.e., 21
years, while those who lived in rural areas have the lowest age ofmarriage. As expected, the age at first marriage of women lived in majorurban areas seemed to carry with them the influence of the urban lifestyleand are also influenced by the educational enrollment opportunities.
Women who spent their life in other urban counterparts have a slightly
lower average age of first marriage of 20 years than women who lived inrural areas (18.5 years).
Statistics about female age at first reported in PDHS 2012-13
illustrated similar levels and patterns as women living in urban areas
have almost the same age at first marriage and women from ruralcounterparts married in younger age as data reported from PDHS 200607. Only one major difference in age of marriage is for women withsecondary education (22.3 years), which seemed higher than in
retrospective PDHS 2006-07 survey.
In order to understand the practices of marriage trends among
women in Pakistan, there has been a link with trends and indicators in
the literature cited above, which considers the women’s education levels
and area distribution of the population.
i. Age at Marriage and Female Education
Education is the main factor that promotes wide options among
women regarding the personal choices because it is related to increased
personal autonomy in terms of developing their human capital in thelabour market as well to greater scope for independent search in themarriage market. Hence increased formal education tends to makewomen for delayed marriages and decide not to have children early. In
modern societies education is seen as more important than the social
status that men and women attain through marital relationship. However,the connection between years of schooling and changes in decision aboutmarriage is clear. In case of Pakistan, the findings of study showed that

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89

women’s increased years of education are positively correlated withdelayed marriage. Even though general trends show a positive relation
between the two independent variables there are many differences within
effect of these variables of female age of first marriage in Pakistanisociety.
ii. Age at Marriage and Urbanization
Effect of the place of residence on women’s age at first marriage
could be combined in diverse types of approach. The urban-ruraldifferentials in marriage patterns can be explained not only by place ofresidence but also by differences in the structure of the population thatlive in urban/rural areas. In Pakistan, rural population have a relatively
high proportion of people who maintain their cultural and family patterns
and social control in their communities is strong to much extent inpersonal matters such as marriage. These traditional marriage patterns
imitate more formal marriage trends and also an early female age atmarriage. However, in urban settings social control is less evident for
women and they could be more exposed to modern life styles that canlead to delay decision of marriage. However, findings from this study
showed that other factors on the other hand may play an important rolein explaining the observed differences between rural/urban areas. As
discussed above, one is easy access to formal education which led
individuals to postpone their entry into formal marriage and second ismajor urban place of residence.
7. CONCLUSION
The results of bivariate analysis emphasized the key factors
associated with women’s age at first marriage in Pakistan. Importantvariables associated with delayed age at first marriage were whether
women achieved higher education and whether they were living in urban
areas. We can conclude that rural place of residence affects female age
at first marriage as rural women married about one year before than thewomen living in urban areas.
Conversely, the findings indicate that attending school increases
the time period till women stay unmarried. On the other hand, education

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Aneel Shahzadin itself is a positive outcome as it is the associated delay in marriage
such that it allows women greater opportunities for autonomous
development in achieving higher education and capacity building.
Moreover, delayed age at marriage might mean that women have longer
pause between marriage and first child birth.
The associations between factors like place of residence anddelayed marriages are strong as the direct correlation between female
education and age at first marriage as discussed above. Even though the
distribution of women’s age at first marriage by their school attending
years shows that higher educated women in Pakistan are more likely tohave higher age at marriage, and the association is highly significant as
it directly affects the other factors of women’s individual development.
This is true for major urban residence as well.
To end this discussion, more efforts are required to be devoted inunderstanding the issues involved in women’s age at first marriage inPakistan which beginning with research on female age of first marriage
as it is directly associated with child bearing and thus population growthrate of Pakistan . Currently, national level surveys such as the PDHS
collect demographic and health information on ever-married women
only. However, the data of the survey do not include variables thatmeasure the respondents’ role in decision-making process, dowry andabout ideal age at marriage in our society. Moreover, information aboutfamily’s socio-economic characteristics can help to understand theinfluences of parent as well as women’s decisions about age at firstmarriage in Pakistan.
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