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Abstract
The marriage pattern in Malaysia has changed dramatically since the 1940s. The general trend is one of increasing age at marriage and non-marriage. Between 1970 and 2000, the singulate mean age at marriage among men and women increased about three years each, from 25.5 years and 22.0 years to 28.8 years and 25.3 years, respectively. During the same period, the proportion of never married among those aged 30–34 doubled from 12 per cent to 25 per cent among males and from 6 per cent to 12 per cent among females. This paper uses data from population censuses to examine the trends and correlates of delayed marriage for the three main ethnic groups in Peninsular Malaysia. Data from sample surveys are also used to shed some light on contemporary marriage behaviour. Malaysia has made great strides in socio-economic development that benefited all segments of society. However, the effects of socio-economic development on marriage postponement and non-marriage have been stronger for non-Malays than for Malays. This can probably be explained by socio-cultural and religious practices.
Notes
1. But, the sharp drop in the proportion never married among tertiary educated Malay women aged 40–49 has to be interpreted with caution as it could be affected by the relatively small sample size. In the 2 per cent sample tape for the 1991 population census, only 43 Malay women aged 45–49 had tertiary education.