The Explorer Islamabad: Journal of Social Sciences

ISSN (E): 2411-0132, ISSN (P): 2411-5487

Vol-1, Issue (7):246-250
www.theexplorerpak.org

LATE MARRIAGES AND INFERTILITY: AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL ANALYSIS ON HEALTH

Hina Saleem, Dr. Abid Ghafoor Chaudhry, Adil Jabbar, Sara Mishal
Department of Anthropology, PMAS-Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi
Corresponding Author:
Hina Saleem
PMAS- Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi
h.saleem74@hotmail.com
Abstract: Pakistan one of the South Asian countries where the trend of late marriages is on an increase affects the
fertility rate visibly. Late marriage and infertility has an imperative relationship which going to be one of the most
dominant phenomena in our current societal settings. The aim of the study is to explore the causes of late marriages
and its effects on fertility. The study was conducted in the vicinity of Rawalpindi. The sample size was70 respondents
selected by using convenient sampling technique. The data was collected by questionnaire tool. The study revealed that
education of women, caste system, phobia of idealistic life and economic empowerment are the major causes of late
marriages. The study also showed that 65.7% respondents agreed with the fact that late marriages do affect the
fertility, due to which complications arise in conceiving a baby or miscarriages and sometimes leads to infertility in
spouses. The males and females both are responsible for infertility in this regard.

Key Words: Infertility, Late Marriages, infecundity, Miscarriages, Anthropology, Women, Caste System
INTRODUCTION
Marriage is one of the important social institutions
in Pakistani society which is creating strong bond
and ties among families. Marriage is a bond
between a female and a male who start living
together, having sexual, social and cultural intimacy
and share livelihood to live a life (Saleem, et al.
2015).According to Nations (1990) it is a universal
social institution. In the marriage institution the
strong bonds and intimacy is strengthened by the
birth of child which on the contrary declines due to
infertility. One of the root causes of this is late
marriages practiced by both male and female in the
society.
Late marriage is one of the prevailing universal
trends where people decide to get married at later
ages. Delayed marriage is an undeniable trend in
the United States. By the early 1990s, median
marriage age had risen to its highest level in the
20th century, for both women and men. From the
mid-1980s, it has become increasingly evident that
throughout several East and Southeast Asian
countries the age of marriage has increased almost
up to 25 years for women at their first marriage
(Leete 1994).
People are now more likely to be materialistic and
marriages are now becoming optional in this era,
where everybody is struggling for getting more and
more riches in order to have better living standards.
They are also afraid of losing their social and
economic freedom which understandably is a part

of getting married. Achieving high social status is

one of the major factors in late marriages. Todays
living generation are inclined towards luxurious life
and for meeting this demand they spend most of
their time in making money even at the cost of
ignoring one of the most important
social
institution of life. Thus this neglect later becomes
cause of some serious issues in their later lives. The
growing trend of late marriages is causing some
serious issues in society. Some of the major causes
behind delayed marriages are cultural, economic,
social and educational factors. Todays men remain
busy in pursuit of good career and money to fulfill
their luxurious needs. Presence of unmarried
sisters in house is the social factor behind delayed
marriages. A brother with sisters has to earn a lot
for the marriages of his sisters while delaying his
own marriage. One of the changing trends for
delaying marriage is closely associated with rise in
educational attainment (Caldwell, et al. 1982).The
cause of postponement of marriage is related to
the changed role and traditional status of women
(Sathar and Kiyani 1998).The most important
change which is likely to occur as a result of rising
age at marriage of females is change in their status.
Most female tend to achieve higher educational
qualification before thinking of a married life. Thus
prolong years of study make them older and out of
the desired age bracket suitable for marriage. On
the contrary however higher educational
qualification of women cause sense of superiority

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and intimidation to the male folk which further

delay marriages. People of all educational
backgrounds have delayed marriages, although the
delay has been longer among the more highly
educated (Isen and Stevenson 2010).
Infertility is the barrenness of women and men to a
child. Infertility is defined as failure to achieve
pregnancy during one year of frequent,
unprotected intercourse. Evaluation generally
begins after 12 months, but it can be initiated
earlier if infertility is suspected based on history or
if the female partner is older than 35 years (JoseMiller, et al. 2007). According to Ayurveda,
infertility is the process in which a couple is unable
to conceive after two or more year of marriage and
even after first delivery fails to conceive again
(Sharma, et al. N.d).
Infertility can be primary and secondary. In primary
infertility, the couples who never conceive fall in
this type (Slutsky 1999). Secondary infertility
includes those cases in which couples fail to
conceive for second time. This includes
miscarriages and abortions etc (Frank 2007).
It has been observed and many studies also reveal
that age at marriage is one of the important factors
which affect the fertility. The higher age at
marriages has led to decline in fertility. Many
studies reveal that age at marriage is an important
social factor (Lapham 1970; Tein 1970; Bhadra
2000).The fertility rate decreases when age at
marriages increases as a result it shortens the
reproductive span due to which complication arise
in achieving pregnancy (Kaur 2000).
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The current study is conducted to explore the
causes of late marriages and its effects on fertility.
The location of study is Rawalpindi and sample of70
respondents were drawn by using a convenient
sampling technique. To gather information on set
objective an interview guide was designed. The
collected data then was cleaned vigorously and
analyzed on SPSS. The percentile and frequency
tables are applied to reveal the results.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Causes of Late Marriages

Response
Often

Variables

Yes

No

Caste
System

67.1%

30.0%

2.9%

Total

100%

Education 47.1%
of
Women
Phobia of 62.9%
Idealism

47.1%

5.7%

100%

30.0%

7.1%

100%

Economic
factor

21.4%

1.4%

100%

77.1%

The table shows the varying responses regarding

causes of late marriages. 67.1% respondents were
of the view that caste system is one of the major
reasons of late marriages. Late marriages takes
place in societies where caste system exists and
their feudal family system and status become
reason for late marriages (Muzaffar 2013).To
maintain the purity of blood, land, status and honor
of family the parents are reluctant to practice
exogamous marriages due to which girls and even
boys remain single or marry in later ages. 47.1%
respondents were of the view that those women
who are educated postpone their decision of
marriages. The age at the time of marriage is one of
the important factors which affect the fertility
(Bumpass and Mburugu 1977). Well-educated
women generally delay their marriages and
childbirth. Education depresses the fertility by rising
the age at marriage (Nag and Singhal 2013).
Education decreases the fertility by raising the age
at marriage, strengthening the propensity to be in
labor force, fostering a favorable attitude towards
small size norm and improving the awareness and
use of family planning methods (Patnaik 1985;
Arora 1990; Vashisht and Rana 1991).
In the study62.9% respondent reveals the fact that
due to phobia of living an idealistic life female
postpone their decision of marriage. The growing
concept of euphoria of idealism is also one of the
serious most issues in our community, as
individuals are in search of perfect being in their
life, (Muzaffar 2013). Hypergamy is also one of the
most dominant units in idealistic life due to which
people delay their marriages.In many societies
hyper gamy marriage practice is the mode through
which female climb up on the social ladder (Saleem,
et al. 2015).In waiting of practicing hyper gamy
some women get married in late ages.
The economic factor is one of the major causes of
late marriages as 77.1% respondents showed their
positive response regarding this cause of late
marriage. The economic cause is interlinked with
social status. Social status matters a lot now days,
people do not prefer to marry unless they are not
having commodity income (Schultz 1974). To
support their families, as cited by Segelstein the

247

prevailing wisdom nowadays is that one should

reach a certain level of maturity and financial
stability (Segelstein 2014). Due to all these causes
Males and females delay their marriage decision.
Late Marriages Affecting Fertility

Response

Frequency

Percentage

Yes

46

65.7%

No

21

30.0%

Often

4.3%

Total

70

100%

The table shows the frequency results of weather

late marriage affects the fertility on not. 65.7 %
respondents answered positively in accord that late
marriages cause infertility. Due to late marriage the
reproductive system gets affected, decreasing the
ability to produce eggs and sperms properly which
leads to infecundity in sex partners and also leads
to difficulties in conceiving a baby. The higher the
age at marriage the shorter will be reproductive
span which in turn reduces the fertility rate
(Choudhary 1984; Kaur 2000). The delay in
marriage for females in particular has direct impact
on delaying the age of sexual initiation and the age
at first birth and it has been seen as a precursor of
fertility changes in many societies(Satharand Kiani
1998). In this analysis30% respondents were of the
view that late marriage doesnt affect the fertility in
women where as 4.3 % were of the view that it
does not necessarily lead to infertility, but such
cases have often been noticed.
Responsible for Infertility

Gender

Frequency

Percentage

Male

4.3%

Female

10

14.3%

Both

57

81.4%

Total

70

100%

The table shows the results of Who is responsible

for infertility. Only 4.3 % respondents were of the
view that male is responsible for infertility. 14.3%
respondents termed females responsible for the
infertility. A immense number 81.4 % respondent
were of the view that both male and female are
responsible for infertility which shows the
awareness of the people about the issue. The
majority of people are aware that infertility is not
just associated with females but the male can also
be in fecund. In approximately 40% of infertile
couples, the male partner is either the sole or a
contributing cause of infertility (ASRM 2012).
Major causes of infertility include male factors,

ovarian dysfunction, tubal disease, endometriosis,

and uterine or cervical factors (Jose- Miller 2007).
Problems with ovulation are common causes of
infertility, accounting for approximately 25% of all
infertility cases. The infertility in our country is
always associated with females but study clearly
showed that infertility is on just on the end of
female but also males are responsible for infertility
CONCLUSION
The study was undertaken to explore the causes of
late marriages and its effects on fertility. It was
identified that increased motivation to attain
educational in women, the caste system, idealism
regarding luxurious life by practicing hyper gamy
and economic stability are the major causes of late
marriages. The study also revealed that due to late
marriages the fertility rate in male and females is
affected. Further the study depicts that not only the
females but males too are the reason behind
infertility due to which difficulties in conceiving
baby occur. Late marriage is one of the major factor
due to which barrenness is seen in both genders.
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