How does migration from villages to cities affect traditional marriage networks?
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Direct answer
Rural-to-urban migration can add workplaces, educational institutions and city-based intermediaries to the search while preserving links to kin and the home village. Remittances, housing constraints and return visits may also shape which proposals remain practical. Pakistan’s national surveys measure residence, migration and marital characteristics separately, but do not trace who introduced a spouse before and after migration. The result is a credible social mechanism supported by regional research, not a national percentage showing that migration either ends cousin marriage or replaces family networks.
Sources used
7th Population and Housing Census 2023
Pakistan Bureau of Statistics
Official census context for population, provinces, urban-rural structure and limits of national demographic claims.View sourcePakistan 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 sourceMarriage decision-making and married youth in Pakistan
Population Council research archived by PubMed Central
Research on marriage timing, prior acquaintance and decision-making among young married Pakistanis.View source