Marriage in Sri Lanka : a century of change

Abstract

The study is concerned with the determinants of marriage patterns in Sri Lanka. Female age at marriage has been rising since censuses began recording it in 1901, until now Sri Lanka has easily the latest marriage age in South Asia. Sri Lanka's late marriage age has been attributed to an economic and social context where incomes are low and unemployment is high, and where young couples usually establish an independent household sometime after marriage. Reduced access to land, as a result of population growth and rising expectations, has meant that it is increasingly difficult for the young couple to raise the resources to marry. It has also been noted that a shortage of grooms in the marriage market may specifically have encouraged a later female marriage age. While these factors are important they do not adequately explain long-term changes in marriage patterns; for this it is necessary to examine these changes within the total context of changes in marriage. The most important such change has been a decline in arranged marriage and its replacement by self-selection in marriage. Arranged marriage has declined because marriage itself has changed in response to the increasing individualization of society. Marriage, and the rights and responsibilities that go with it, in the past involved not simply two individuals but also their families and even the wider community. Marriage reflected a society in which an individual's status depended upon his membership of a wider group, generally based on kinship, the most important of which was the family. A marriage concerned all family members for it imposed obligations and, in return, gave rights for the families as well as the individuals marrying; for example, it might involve dowry, or influence the inheritance of family property, or create a useful alliance with another family. It also had implications for family status; it was important for instance that the individual came from a suitable family or caste. For the young to have disputed the family's right to be involved in the marriage would have been to dispute their place in the family. This family-based society no longer holds. A new economic system has emerged which places a much greater emphasis on individual attributes, and in which achieved status counts for more than ascribed status. The family is much less important. Therefore, the members of the family place less pressure on other family members to behave according to the interests of the family as a whole. This applies, in particular, to the arrangement of marriage; the family members have less interest in arranging a marriage as its consequences matter less to them, and the young have less interest in having their marriages arranged, because what they gain in return is of less value. The increasing individualization of society has also affected marriage patterns. In the past, the ties established by marriage were vital for an individual to be a functioning adult in society. The only role outside marriage was that of the monk, which was essentially available only for males. Marriage now is less a matter of establishing social ties and more restricted to forming a unit for raising children. Marriage is, consequently, less essential than before, and hence celibacy is more possible. The changes also mean that early marriage is less advantageous than previously. Where family considerations dominated over individual considerations the advantages of early marriage were greater than the disadvantages. For the family early marriage has certain advantages, ties with other families can be established earlier, the risk of an elopement is less, a younger bride is often more accepting of family authority, while there are few disadvantages; emphasis was placed on family attributes including family status, caste and property, all of which were independent of the age of the individual. For the individual too, the earlier they married the sooner they were accepted into full adult status. Now, however, that the family is less important, the advantages of early marriage for it are less relevant, while the advantages of later marriage are increasing. Most importantly, more emphasis is being placed on individual attributes, many of which, such as education, employment and especially experience and maturity, take time to accumulate, and thus encourage a later age at marriage. In comparison to the rest of South Asia Sri Lanka's age at marriage was always somewhat later because pressures for very early marriage were never as strong; differences in family and kinship structure, in caste, and in the strength of the local community meant that early marriage was always less advantageous in Sri Lanka. Show more