Data from the Migration Module of the Population, Labor Force, and Migration (PLM) Survey of 1979 and from the population censuses of 1961, 1972, and 1981 were examined to explore the impact of modernization, particularly of expansion of education and modern sector employment, urbanization, and migration on proportions never married in various age groups in Pakistan. Table 1 shows a noticeable and substantial increase in proportions never married between 1961 and 1975 and subsequently until 1981.
The increase in proportions never married was more pronounced for young females aged 15-29 years than for males in the same age group. The figures for 1972 and 1981 were similar, indicating that increases in the proportions never married occurred more in the 1960s. The singulate mean age at marriage for females was computed to be 18.1 years in 1961, 19.8 years in 1972, and 20.7 years in 1981.
Over the 1961-81 period, marital postponement for males was considerably less pronounced. In the age groups above age 30, the proportions never married were lower in 1981 than in 1961 for both males and females. Overall increases in the proportions never married were not as marked in the case of Pakistani males, which may be attributed to the fact that beginning in 1961
male marriage age was already considerably higher than female marriage age — 23.6 years. Patterns of marriage behavior were expected to vary in the 4 provinces — Punjab, Sind, NWFP, and Baluchistan — because of differences in cultural patterns, levels of development, and urbanization.
Punjab, the most developed province, contained the bulk of the proportion never married in the 15-19 age group, both in urban and in rural areas. The provincial differential in proportions never married was much greater for females than for males. Punjab had the highest proportions of never married females, followed by the NWFP and Sind, in both urban and rural areas.
