African Demography Working Paper Series
Document Type
Working Paper
Date of this Version
August 1989
Abstract
Marriage is an important institution for both individuals and society as a whole. It is a significant event in the life cycle of individuals; for society at large it represents the creation of a new unit of production, consumption, distribution and exchange of goods and services. In most comparative studies of nuptiality it has been usual to characterize sub-Saharan pattern of marriage as “early and universal”. Early and virtually continuous marriage throughout a woman's reproductive years is also maintained by several related marriage customs including polygyny, levirate marriage, and bride wealth or bride price (van de Walle, 1968;Goldman and Pebley, 1986).
Keywords
Africa, Sudan, marriage, marriage patterns, marriage customs, polygyny, bridewealth, bride wealth, bride price, nuptiality, fertility, Sudan Fertility Survey, data, survey, census, households, Sub-Saharan Africa, marital status, World Fertility Surveys, marital status, cohabitation, age, timing, regional variations, regional differences, single, nomadic, age at first marriage, marital history, migration, marital trends
Date Posted: 27 November 2007
This document has been peer reviewed.
Comments
African Demography Working Papers Working Paper No. 18 August 1989