Maasai marriage: Kenya-Tanzania comparisons

1
Maasai marriage Kenya-Tanzania comparisons
Hypothesis Kenyan Maasai men will marry later
and be less likely to enter into polygynous
marriages than Tanzanian Maasai men
Rationale Kenyan Maasai have higher levels of
modernisation than Tanzanian Maasai Kenya T
anzania Livelihood gt diversified lt
diversified Education Higher Lower Integration
Higher Lower

• Methodology
• Individual questionnaire
• N2,394 men ?20 years old
• Ethnographic survey
• Participant observation

Key Findings

• Age at first marriage
• Kenyan Maasai men marry significantly earlier
  than Tanzanian Maasai men
• Mean age at first marriage
• Kenya 25.6 years
• Tanzania 29.4 years
• Men with more education report significantly
  lower ages at first marriage in both Kenya and
  Tanzania

• Polygyny
• No significant differences between Kenya and
  Tanzania
• Kenya Tanzania
• of men in polygynous marriage 46 46
• Average no. wives per polygynist 2.72 2.84
• The prevalence of polygyny decreases
  significantly with increases in education in both
  Kenya and Tanzania
• Kenya Tanzania
• No education 51 53
• Incomplete primary 36 52
• Complete primary 25 26
• The prevalence of polygyny decreases
  significantly with livelihood diversification in
  both Kenya and Tanzania
• Kenya Tanzania
• Pastoralist 54 52
• Diversified pastoralist 42 45
• Other 32 27

Logistic regression Significant
results Estimated odds of being in a monogamous
union compared with a polygynous union
Kenya Tanzania Male
education 2.3 2.1 Own household
head 2.3 6.2 Subfecund first
wife n.s. 0.4 Wealth n.s.
2.6 Cultivate n.s. 2.2 No
livestock 5.1 n.s. Traditional
housing 0.6 n.s.
Conclusions Country-level differences in
socio-economic change are reflected in nuptiality
outcomes although not always in the expected
direction Hypothesis not supported Kenyan men
marry earlier, despite higher levels of education
and greater livelihood diversification Counter-int
uitive relationship between education and male
entry into marriage more education significantly
associated with early entry into marriage
Dr Ernestina Coast, London School of Economics