Although polygyny is legally permissible, there is generally a strong folk prejudice against it, and in recent times it has been practiced only by the very rich. Among the Seksawa, only 100 men in the entire group have plural wives, these being men of exceptional standing. The Shluh household unit is a small, patrilocal extended family, consisting of a father and two or three married sons, their wives, and their families. Each component nuclear family occupies a separate room in the house. Even after the death of the father, the sons try to remain together as long as possible, although among the Shtuka there is a tendency to establish a new household nearby.
Local exogamy seems to be an established pattern, at least on the level of the village or hamlet.
There are a number of exogamous patrilineages called bone or ikhs among the Shluh, each consisting of from 10 to 50 families and headed by the eldest male member. At the core of each extended family is a minor patrilineage. The Shluh are a sedentary population and occupy permanent settlements. Houses are arranged into compact villages or small hamlets, frequently surrounded by walls or a dense thorn hedge, and often equipped with high watchtowers. The town of Taroudant is the major commercial center for the area, with a population of about 8,000 inhabitants, mostly Blacks, Arabs, and other non-Shluh peoples.