Age at marriage in Sri Lanka: stabilizing or declining?

Area of Science:

• Demography
• Sociology
• Population Studies

Background:

• Examining trends in the age at first marriage in Sri Lanka over the past four decades.
• Investigating potential shifts in marriage patterns influenced by socioeconomic factors and cohort effects.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the changes in the mean age at first marriage for males and females in Sri Lanka.
• To assess recent trends and future projections for female age at first marriage.

Main Methods:

• Utilized demographic data spanning four decades to track marriage age trends.
• Applied Coale-McNeil estimation techniques to evaluate the reliability of observed marriage age declines.

Main Results:

• Observed a marginal increase in male age at first marriage and a considerable rise in female age at first marriage.
• Identified no recent increase in female age at marriage, with younger cohorts showing a declining mean age at marriage.
• Coale-McNeil estimates suggest no actual decline in the female age at first marriage.

Conclusions:

• Female age at first marriage in Sri Lanka has stabilized below 24 years.
• Economic improvements post-1977 led to an increase in marriage occurrences.
• The current female age at first marriage level is expected to continue in the near future.