Does cousin marriage differ between urban and rural Pakistan?
Last reviewed:
Direct answer
The 2017–18 Pakistan DHS recorded first-cousin marriage more often among rural than urban women. About 30.5% of rural women were married to a paternal first cousin and 21.8% to a maternal first cousin, compared with 25.6% and 19.2% among urban women. That totals roughly 52.3% in rural areas and 44.8% in urban areas. Residence is an association, not a complete explanation; education, region, migration, wealth and kinship networks overlap with the urban–rural difference.
52.3% vs 44.8%first-cousin marriage in rural and urban samples, PDHS 2017–18
Sources used
Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2017–18
National Institute of Population Studies and The DHS Program
National survey evidence for marriage timing, women, households and health indicators.View sourceConsanguineous marriage and its association with women’s paid work in Pakistan
Social Science & Medicine, indexed by PubMed
Peer-reviewed analysis of 15,068 women in Pakistan DHS data, including consanguinity patterns and correlates.View source