CHARLES HIRSCHMAN
Duke University***
The average age at marriage among women in Peninsular Malaysia has risen dramatically from 18.5 years in 1947 to 22.3 years in 1970 (based on census data calculations of the "singulate mean age at marriage"). This paper examines the socioeconomic determinants of the average age at first marriage among women age 25-44 in
1966-1967 who were interviewed in a cross-sectional fertility survey of currently married women in Peninsular Malaysia. Substantial differentials in age at first marriage
are associated with ethnicity, years of formal schooling, and premarital work experience, while lesser differences are observed /or social and geographic origins.
Ethnic differences in age at first marriage remain wide even after statistically controlling,fvr other socioeconomic background variables. A life-cycle model of the effects of social background variables on age at first marriage is estimated using dummy variable regression analysis. Post-primary schooling and working before marriage are the strongest variables that delay age at first marriage. These patterns are
common to all ethnic communities. As more women participate in higher education
and in employment, age at first marriage will probably be further delayed.
There are relatively few empirical generalizations about the social and economic determinants of age at marriage. It is generally believed that rural tradition fosters early marriage, while urbanization and other forces of
modernization lead to marriage postponement. Extant data, however, have not always
shown this to be true. The most obvious
anomaly is the "Western European marriage
pattern," which indicates that prior to the Industrial Revolution, women commonly married in their mid- to late twenties (Gaskin,
1978; Hajnal, 1965). Furthermore, there is
We thank the National Family Planning Board of
Malaysia and the Department of Statistics of Malaysia
for permission to use the 1966-1967 West Malaysian
Family Survey data. Professor James Palmore kindly
provided a copy of the data tape and made constructive
comments on an earlier draft of this paper. We also
thank Teresa Dark for typing the paper.
International Center for Research on Women, 1010
16th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036.
November 1979
Vol 41
(November):877-891.
877
TABLE 1. TRENDS IN PERCENTAGES MARRIED AND MEAN AGE AT FIRST MARRIAGE OF WOMEN
FOR SELECTED ASIAN COUNTRIES__________________
Percent Marrieda
Singulate Mean Age
Ages 15-19
Ages 20-24
at First Marriage
Philippines (Ever-Married)
1903
1939
1948
1960
1970
26.4
19.7
14.9
12.7
10.8
66.7
63.8
59:3
55.7
49.7
20.9
21.9
22.1
22.3
22.8
51.9
24.7
24.3
15.0
10.5
79.0
70.6
67.5
58.7
46.9
20.7
20.9
22.1
23.5
17.9
12.5
17.5
64.2
56.4
57.9
21.1
21.6
21.9
12.5
5.9
44.4
42.2
37.0
16.1
86.7
78.6
57:0:
1901
1946
1953
1963
1971
Thailand (Currently Married)
1947
1960
1970
18.1
1961
1974
60.9
1947
1957
1970
18.5
19.4
22.3
^n two countries, data on currently married, rather than ever-married, are presented. At young ages, differences between currently married and ever-married are neghgible.
Sources: Concepi6n and Smith, 1977:20; Fernando, 1975:185; Arnold et at., 1977:8-9; Freedman et al
1977:13; Hirschman and Fernandez, 1978.
878
November 1979
PENINSULAR MALAYSIA
Formerly known as Malaya and West Malaysia, Peninsular Malaysia is part of the nation of Malaysia. Malaysia was formed in
1963 with the union of Malaya (which had
been an independent nation since 1957), and
two former British colonies on BorneoSabah and Sarawak. Singapore was briefly
part of Malaysia from 1963 to 1965. While
geographically large, Sabah and Sarawak are
sparsely populated, and Peninsular Malaysias population of 8.8 million comprised
almost 85 percent of the population of the entire country in 1970 (Department of Statistics, 1977:269). Because of data limitations,
only Peninsular Malaysia is included in our
study.
With the exception of the city-state of Singapore, Malaysia is the most affluent nation in
Southeast Asia, measured in conventional
GNP terms (World Bank, 1976:498). This
relative prosperity rests in part on the export
of primary products, rubber, tin and oil
palm. but also on growing industrial and
commercial sectors.
In terms of population, the most salient
characteristic of Malaysia is her plural or
multi-ethnic composition. Slightly over onehalf of the population is composed of Malays,
over one-third is of Chinese descent, and ap-
November 1979
879
TABLE 2. PERCENTAGE OF WOMEN EVER-MARRIED BY AGE GROUP AND SINGULATE MEAN AGE
AT FIRST MARRIAGE, BY ETHNIC COMMUNITY: PENINSULAR MALAYSIA, 1947,1957, AND 1970
Years
15-19
20-24
25-29
30-34
35-39
40-44
45-49
(15-49)
1947
42.2
86.7
96.1
97.6
96.5
97.8
97.5
(84.7)
18.5
1957
Total
37.0
78.6
94.4
97.9
98.5
98.5
98.6
1970
1947
1957
1970
Malay
16.1
57.0
86.2
94.4
96.7
98.1
98.7
(67.5)
22.3
59.2
93.4
97.9
98.7
95.9
98.9
98.6
(89.8)
17.4
54.1
90.6
97.6
98.8
99.2
99.4
99.4
(87.6)
17.9
22.7
67.6
91.3
96.7
98.1
98.9
99.3
(73.1)
21.1.
(80.6)
19.4
Mean Age at First Marriage
Indian
Chinese
17.0
53.2
52.3
6.0
10.3
17.6
15-19
63.0
90.6
40.3
93.1
56.8
73.9
20-24
88.3
97.5
78.6
98.2
88.6
92.1
25-29
96.1
98.8
98.9
90.5
95.8
96.2
30-34
99.5
97.9
99.0
94.3
97.3
96.7
35-39
98.6
99.5
98.6
97.4
96.6
96.4
40-44
99.0
99.4
98.4
97.6
97.5
96.3
45-49
(67.7)
(88.1)
(89.2)
(68.3)
(59.0)
(76.3)
(15-49)
21.7
17.6
17.9
22.1
24.2
20.5
Mean Age at First Marriage
Sources: Del Tufo, 1949:204-259; Department of Statistics. Federation of Malaya. 1960:72-76; Department
of Statistics, Malaysia, 1977:355-359.
November 1979
TABLE 3. MEAN AGE AT FIRST MARRIAGE, PERCENTAGE MARRIED BEFORE AGE 18, AND PERCENTAGE MARRIED AT AGE 21 OR LATER OF
CURRENTLY MARRIED WOMEN, AGE 25-34 AND 35-44 IN 1966-1967 BY SELECTED BACKGROUND CHARACTERISTICS: PENINSULAR MALAYSIA,
1966-1967
% Married
% Marrifd
atAf;e 17 or Beifore
atAf!e21 or Later
Total
Ethnic Community
Malay
Chinese
Indian
35^4
Total
(25-44)
25-34
68.6
19.2
55.4
69.0
24.1
45.9
68.8
21.1
51.6
63.7
47.9
31.0
63.8
51.9
25-34
35-44
16.2
20.8
17.6
16.5
20.3
18.0
16.3
20.6
17.8
16.6
18.5
19.6
16.8
17.8
19.4
16.6
16.6
19.9
20.3
16.8
19.3
19.4
16.7
19.7
20.0
16.6
17.8
17.8
18.7
21.1
22.8
17.0
18.1
18.4
19.2
21.1
22.8
16.8
17.9
17.9
18.8
21.1
22.8
41.8
5.7
6.8
16.8
18.2
17.0
18.6
17.8
18.5
16.9
18.0
18.5
62.4
50.6
42.1
17.6
17.5
17.5
54.1
%ofSaimple3
SamipleNb
Total
35-44
25-34
35-44
10.3
49.7
16.8
13.8
40.5
27.5
11.8
46.1
21.1
62.8
25.3
10.3
66.1
22.3
9.9
956
1164
329
669
818
226
11.9
28.7
38.1
15.9
26.8
32.9
13.6
27.9
35.9
57.1
19.5
16.7
57.7
18.5
37.3
63.8
49.5
33.6
17.0
815
750
754
582
459
552
63.6
30.8
25.8
63.2
39.8
35.0
63.4
34.2
29.7
11.7
42.9
50.4
16.7
32.0
34.5
13.8
38.9
43.6
72.8
15.2
11.9
74.7
12.5
12.3
1143
674
677
788
450
493
62.3
54.8
55.2
62.3
50.2
62.3
53.3
51.8
39.8
17.4
26.5
25.2
32.4
51.1
18.8
14.4
46.3
68.1
15.7
23.2
22:6
26.5
52.6
72.4
8.3
3.2
3.9
71.3
12.9
8:7
3.3
1.4
1.8
885
502
433
286
141
245
945
294
229
104
67
82
(25-44) 25-34
Fathers Occupation
Agricultural
Blue Collar
White Collar
18.2
19.5
Town or City
Years of Schooling
None
1-3
4-5
6
7-8
9 or more
13.2
8.4
14.0
21.6
21.4
24.9
54.6
73.8
60.3
55.3
49.6
61.5
52.9
44.6
12.8
27.9
32.6
14.2
22:7
32.8
13.4
27.8
32.6
56.0
6.1
37.6
61.2
7.9
30.2
1345
144
1007
1171
102
459
56.5
55.1
21.1
20.9
21.1
100.0
100.0
2501
1743
43.9
32.5
22.1
9.7
None
Work Only at Home
Work Outside Home
Total Sample of Currently Married Women
^Weighted
to national population composition. The categories of each variable do not sum to 100% because others/dont know categories are not listed.
"Unweighted number of interviews. The figures for each variable do not sum to the total because others/dont know categories are not listed.
Source: 1966-1967 West Malaysian Family Survey (National Family Planning Board, 1968).
882
November 1979
November 1979
883
TABLE 4. MEAN AGE AT FIRST MARRIAGE, PERCENTAGE MARRIED BEFORE AGE 18, AND PERCENTAGE MARRIED AT AGE 21 OR LATER OF
CURRENTLY MARRIED WOMEN, AGE 25-44, BY ETHNIC COMMUNITY AND SELECTED BACKGROUND CHARACTERISTICS: PENINSULAR MALAYSIA, 1966-1967
Mean A.ge at Miimage
0
M
Fathers Occupation
Agricultural
Blue Collar
White Collar
>
Longest Place of
Residence Before
Marriage
Rural
Small Town
2>
Town or City
Years of Schooling
None
Tl
>
H
w
2>
r:
Z
I3
1-3
4-5
6
7-8
9 or more
% Married
at Age 17 or Belore
% Marrif;d
at Age 21 or Later
S ample N11
% of Samiple Popuilation3
Malay
Chinese
Indian
Malay
Chinese
ndian
18.3,
22.4
25.9
72.1
13.1
8.5
24.1
29.6
37.2
39.8
33.5
20.4
846
327
330
395
618
790
138
241
149
36.5
48.7
17.8
27.3
22,6
52.2
34.7
89.2
6.1
4.7
31.7
35.2
32.0
74.1
15.0
10.8
1116
233
226
488
679
803
256
191
105
51.6
56.1
58.4
80.6
29.9
13.4
11.1
3.4
15.8
12.5
47.6
54.9
35.9
48.6
49.8
47.1
65.7
81.6
17.7
22.9
11.3
8.4
35.8
68.3
67.1
12.6
12.6
5.1
1.5
0.8
42.1
25.6
10.7
10.5
4.5
6.5
53.3
19.4
13.5
3.8
3.3
5.9
837
227
312
124
60
54
764
473
254
225
104
158
216
90
96
38
39
64
27.7
20.7
13.5
58.3
*
44.1
7.6
16.6
19.2
34.0
58.9
58.1
12.9
*
29.3
62.6
7.8
29.1
49.7
7.5
42.8
50.1
1.4
48.3
1135
103
381
990
136
854
370
7
174
21.1
51.6
11.8
46.1
21.1
100.0
100.0
100.0
1626
1982
555
Malay
Chinese
50.4
52.6
51.7
10.4
13.0
20.6
38.7
47.5
46.7
28.9
19.5
15.2
51.8
51.0
51.4
10.6
21.1
71.4
80.8
61.3
54.6
5.0
11.1
30.5
16.6
17.9
14.4
8.4
2.1
18.5
72.4
64.0
62.1
17.8
68.8
CChinese Indian
Malay
Chinese
Indian
Malay
16.2
16.3
17.6
20.0
20.6
20,9
17.4
17.8
18.6
70.1
70.9
54.7
25.4
23.4
17.1
16.2
17.6
17.2
19.8
20.8
21.2
17.5
18.5
18.6
69.8
60.7
60.4
16.0
15.7
17.2
17.3
21.1
21.6
19,7
20.8
20.8
21.0
21.6
23.7
17.3
17.9
16.9
17.0
20.1
22.5
16.0
16.8
16.9
19.7
21.4
21.5
17.0
16.3
20.6
Indian
Premarital Work
Experience
None
Work Only at Home
Work Outside Home
Total Sample of
Currently Married
Women
<D
S"
^0
~i
v0
*Lessthan 10 cases.
Weighted to national population composition. The categories of each variable do no add to 100 percent because others/doint knoiw categoric! are not listed.
^Unweighted number of interviews. The figures for each variable do not sum to the otalbeoiuse others/dont know categolriesare not listed.
Source: 1966-1967 West Malayaan Family Survey (National Family Planning Board, 1968).
WOMEN,
TABLE 5 EFFECTS OF SOCIAL BACKGROUND ON AGE AT FIRST MARRIAGE OF MARRIED
Gross__________Net_________
Ethnic Community
Malay
Chinese
Indian
Others
Fathers Occupation
Agricultural
Blue Collar
White Collar
Not Reported
Unweighted (N)
-1.20
3.05
0.22
-0.84
2.29
-0.09
1621
1981
553
81
-0.88
0.67
1-98
-0.14
-0.02
0.34
1393
1208
1304
331
-0.82
-0.17
0.51
0.39
1924
1124
-0.43
0.25
2.47
3.43
1825
Rural
Small Town
Town or City
2.12
2.41
1170
18
Not Reported
Educational Attainment
-0.74
0.53
None
Primary (1-6)
3.58
5.28
1846
208
327
30
""None------
2510
-0.52
-0:66
246
0.73
0.50
1465
0.72
1.00
Not Reported__________________ -_________^_______________"
Notes- Effects are expressed as deviations from the grand mean of 17.54 years.
the regression
Coefficients of the "Not Reported" categories are not listed here, but they were included m
Source: 1966^1967 West Malaysian Family Survey (National Family Planning Board, 1968).
Only at Home
Outside Home
November 1979
MODEL
^^SOCIOSTRUCTURAL
MARRIAGE
^
the preFrom the variables discussed
^g
pIRST
in
885
FIGURE 1. LIFE-CYCLE MODEL OF SOCIAL BACKGROUND AND AGE AT FIRST MARRIAGE, PENINSULAR MALAYSIA, 1966-1967
ETHNICITY
EDUCATIONAL
.ATTAIIIMENT
None
Prinary (1-6)
More Years
Not Reported
FATHERS OCCUPATION
White Collar
Blue Collar
Agricultural
Not Reported
PREMARITAL WORK
EXPERIENCE
PLACE OF LONGEST
RESIDENCE PRIOR
TO MARRIAGE
Rural Area
Small Town
Town
City
Not Reported
experience.
Educational attainment is posited to have a
causal impact on marriage postponement,
886
November 1979
^
^^
2
a"
TABLE 6. EFFECTS OF SOCIAL BACKGROUND ON AGE AT FIRST MARRIAGE 01 MARRIED WOMEN AGES 25-44. SEPARATELY BY ETHNIC COMMUNITY: PENINSULAR MALAYSIA, 1966-1967
Model:
Fathers Occupation
Agricultural
BlueCoUar
White Collar
Not Reported
t-i
Marriage
>
^
2
g
SO
">
Rural Area
SmaUTown
Town or City
Not Reported
None
Primary (1-6 years)
Lower Secondary (7-8)
9 or more years
Not Reported
>
2
p
"<
-0.05 -0.05
0.56
0.51
0.70
0.22
0.27
-0.11
1.01
"->
21
(Mean
17.8 years)
3c
2
u,,^,gi,ted
(N)
(N)
843
327
329
122
-0.30
0.01 -0.11
-0.12 -0.06 -0.20
0.17 -0.12 0.08
395
617
790
179
137
241
148
27
1161
233
487
0.07 -0.10
-0.20
0.07 0.50
0.57
0.60 -0.58 -0.03
254
191
105
3
-0.51 -0.48
-0.33 -0.28
2.45 2.44
5.19 4.51
214
224
39
-0.79
0.39
0.79
368
7
174
4
(N)
226
ia
679
803
I3
\1
-0.24 -0.29
0.17
0.27
4.42 4.39
4.72
4.48
834
661
60
54
12
-0.80 -0.77
0.22 0.27
0.92 0.75
2.97 2.52
1132
102
380
7
-0.88
0.88
0.87
763
952
104
158
4
64
12
None
-0.38
0.71
0.60
Only at Home
Outside Home
Not Reported
K^_______ _________________1.9
^^^
Educational Attainment
>
Z
16.34 years)
y
2t>
PI
^Tl
la
Indian
Chinese
Malay
(Mean
5.4
7.1_______
2.7
8.2
13:4
989
136
854
2
______1.4
11.7
15.2
Notes: Effects are expressed as deviations from the grand mean of each ethnic community.
Coefficients for "Not Reported" categories are not listed here, but they were included as part of the regression models.
SModel only includes fathers occupation and place of longest residence prior to marriage.
IModel 2 includes fathers occupation, place of longest residence prior to marriage, and educational attainment.
^odel 3 includes fathers occupation, place of longest residence prior to marriage, educational attainment, and premarital work experience.
Source: 1966-1967 West Malaysian Family Survey (National Family Planning Board, 1968).
Fathers Occupation
background.
In sum, we conclude that social origin, as
measured by fathers occupation, and place
of longest residence before marriage, have
real, but fairly modest effects on delaying age
at first marriage, and most of these effects are
indirect through educational attainment.
Educational Attainment
Years of education is by far the most significant variable in the model. Primary education (1-6 years) has only a slightly greater
delaying effect than no schooling. The difference, net of social origins, is only .4 and .2 of
a year for Malays and Indians, respectively.
For Chinese, however, primary schooling
does postpone marriage for about a year relative to women who have had no education at
all. But most of the effect of education is for
those with at least lower secondary schooling.
The effects are smallest for Chinese, but still
substantial. Deviations above the mean age at
first marriage are approximately four to five
years for Malay and Indian women with post-
primary schooling.
The effects of education are more than just
a postponement of marriage until schooling is
completed. For instance, women who have
only seven or eight years of schooling will
have completed their education by age 14 or
15 at the latest, yet most postpone their marriage several years beyond this age. Thus, it
seems that education has other consequences
that influence young women (and their families) to delay marriage. Part of the effect of
education is a mediation of socioeconomic
and residential background as noted in
earlier paragraphs. But the Substantial increase in variance explained for Model 2 compared to Model 1 indicates that most of the
effect of education on age at first marriage is
independent of social background.
Surprisingly, very little of the effect of education on age at first marriage is mediated by
premarital work experience. We would
expect that one of the basic consequences of
higher education would be to enhance employment skills and aspirations which would
tend to delay marriage. But almost all of the
effects of education are found to be directly
on age at first marriage, at least in this
model.
November 1979
quence.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
It is probably a futile effort to attempt to
develop a general theory of the nuptiality
transition. While the general forces of change
in marriage patterns may be similar in different contexts and at different times, no
common set of factors such as industrialization or urbanization seems to be universally
associated with the timing of marriage. Even
within the less developed nations of Asia,
there is a diversity of levels and trends that
bears no obvious relationship to relative levels
of socioeconomic development.
An alternative comparative strategy of research is to proceed inductively, by empirical
investigation of trends in age at first marriage
and the socioeconomic correlates of age at
first marriage. From this perspective, one can
develop a causal model that can be empirically estimated and used to interpret the
relative effects of social background characteristics on age at first marriage. In this
study, we have examined the case of Peninsular Malaysia. An extension of this strategy
to other societies and a comparison of the
results might lead to a more cumulative tradition of comparative research.
Comparisons of proportions of married
women in the censuses of 1947, 1957, and
1970 show a remarkable trend towards delayed marriage in Peninsular Malaysia.
While only the Chinese population registered
a significant trend toward delayed marriage
among women from 1947 to 1957, the 1957 to
November 1979
889
East-West Center.
Del Tufo, M. V.
1949 A Report on the 1947 Census of Population.
London:Crown Agents for the Colonies,
partment of Statistics.
890
1971
(November):481-489.
National Family Planning Board
1968 Report on the West Malaysian Family Survey,
1966-1967. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia:Author.
Palmore, James
1969 "Malaysia: The West Malaysian Family Survey, 1966-1967." Studies in Family Planning 40
(April):ll-20.
Palmore, James, Paul M. Hirsch, and Ariffin bin Marzuki
1971
Malaya.
Mitchell, Robert E.
(November):383-401.
Salaff, Janet
1976 "The status of unmarried Hong Kong women
November 1979
and the social factors contributing to their delayed status." Population Studies 30 (November):391-412.
Shryock, Henry S., and Jacob S. Siegel
1973 The Methods and Materials of Demography.
November 1979
891