ABSTRACT
PIP: This study of marriage patterns is concerned with marriages registered during the years 1964 and 1969 in the Kharianwala, Salar Syyedan, and Kot Ranjeet, Union Councils of Sheikhupura District consisting of 23 villages. The Muslim Family Law of 1961 requiring registration of marriages provides a direct source of marriage statistics and has been the data base for this study. Results have been compared with the PIDE Karachi study and with the Lahore study and changes in marriage patterns are examined over a 5-year period. Findings show that women continued to marry at age 19 in both urban and rural areas. Rural men married at an average age of 22.6 in 1969 and 22.4 in 1964. In 1964 men in Karachi married at an average age of 25.4; in Lahore in 1969 average age was 24.4. There was no change in age over time in the rural areas but in Karachi the average age of the male at marriage increased from 24.6 in 1962 to 25.4 in 1965. This difference can be accounted for by the additional time spent in school and in working for economic independence. The fact that the age of the female has remained the same at time of marriage means that 30 years of fertility can be expected for her after marriage. According to the 1972 census, family planning programs have been ineffective. There is an obvious need to increase the age at marriage for women. This will require a change in traditional custom. Regarding the practice of "mehr," the rural population studies do not reveal a positive relationship between the age at marriage and the average "mehr" as is observed for Karachi and Lahore. A high "mehr" is essential in Karachi and to some extent in Lahore, but this is not so in rural areas where protection is provided by the traditional social pressures. The study also indicates that rural to urban migration of women has increased from 6.6% to 16% between 1964 and 1969, meaning that more population distribution occurs between rural and urban areas because of marriage.^ieng
