Ideal marriage age

The results showed a variation in the age of marriage perceived as ideal, between urban and rural areas and according to the educational level (Table 1.5). The majority of those in the rural areas still valued early marriage for women, whereas in urban areas, especially in Cairo, the percentage of those believing in early marriage was low With regard to educational variables, the study reveals that sixteen of the males in the sample with basic (primary) education held that the ideal age of marriage for females was under sixteen (constituting 8 per cent of the sample as a whole), while none of the males with higher education agreed.

Among those who agreed with early marriage for females, the main motivating factors given were:

i. Religious/moral factors: a belief that early marriage precludes females from any ‘wrongdoing’.

Table 1.5 Ideal age for female marriage

2. Economic factors: in rural areas early marriage means the young woman’s labour can be used in the service of her husband’s family and in particular her mother-in-law, and of her husband in the house and the field.

3. Cultural factors: these are manifested in the two values of protecting the honour of the virgin girl, and avoiding spinster hood.

Table 1.6 sets out the main reasons expressed in support of early marriage by males and females in the sample agreeing with the practice.

Table 1.6 Motivating factors for early marriage

Table 1.6 shows a difference between the motivating factors for early marriage as expressed by men and women. While the order of motivations began for both sexes with early marriage as a ‘protection against wrongdoing’, for males the second reason cited was that the wife would get used to her husband from an early age, with economic factors third and the cultural values last on the list. For women, the cultural factors were second, with economic benefits to the groom’s family last on this list.