Census Analytical Report - Uganda Bureau of Statistics

Analytical Report5.1.2 Differentials in Marriage PatternsMarriage behaviour is known to vary according to the socio-economic characteristicsof an individual. The factors considered here are sex, place of residence, religion, andeducation.The 2002 Census did not ask a direct question on age at first marriage, hence thatindicator is estimated by using the Singulate Mean Age at Marriage (SMAM). TheSMAM gives the average duration of time that men and women in a given populationspend before getting married.Marriagebegins earlieramong femalesthan malesThe data show that in Uganda, in addition to marriage being almost universal by age35, it also starts early. The Singulate Mean Age at Marriage was 24.1 years for malesand 19.9 years for females. This represents a slight increase from the respectivefigures of 23.7 and 19.4 in 1991. The figures for 2002 are also close to the Mean Ageat First Marriage from the UDHS 2000 – 2001 of 22.3 and 17.8 for males and femalesrespectively.Table 5.3 shows marriage differential by educational attainment. The table exhibitsthat females’ early entry into marriage is closely associated with their level ofeducational attainment, either as a cause or a consequence.Educationdelaysmarriage byabout 7 yearsThe Singulate Mean Age at Marriage (SMAM) was 18.2 years for women with noeducation and increases with level of education. The SMAM was observed to be 24.9years for women with Post Secondary level showing a difference of 6.7 years betweenthe SMAM for women with no education and those with post secondary education.Similar observations were made for males. Those with no education enter marriage atan earlier age (SMAM was 22.9 years) than those with Post secondary (27.5 years).The SMAM by Region and District are given in Table A1.5.43