Measuring the Influence of Social Mutations on the Precariousness of Women’s Marriage, the “Dismarriage”: Case of Niger Republic

Abstract

The South societies, under the influence of their Northern counterparts, have undergone profound familial changes; these transformations are translated in a reduction of the number of marriages and in making wedlock unions fragile along with the consequences that this entails on children. Drawing on the data from four Demographic and Health surveys (DHS) (1992, 1998, 2006, and 2012) which Niger has so far conducted, this study aims at verifying whether the influence of social transformations on the family in Niger can be captured through an examination of the increase in median age at the first marriage, in the proportion of single women (and definitive celibacy), in polygamous marriages, in couples living in consensual union (not in wedlock), in the proportion of children living with their single mother, and in that of the divorced/separated women. Our results show that though urbanization and education influence marriage, women’s “dismarriage” is yet to be a topical issue. Thus, we notice an intensification of marriages which comes, however, with a slight increase in the age at first marriage.