Marital Changes and Fertility Differences Among Women and Men in Urban and Rural Mali

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between types of marriage celebration, time to cohabitation of spouses and age at first birth. The data are derived from a national survey conducted in Mali (Bamako, other urban and rural areas) in 2000. The study showed that the delay of age at marriage (i.e. age at first marriage celebration) is greater for men than for women in Bamako only. In other urban and rural areas, the direction of change in age at first marriage does not seem to differ much between women and men. The religious ceremony is systematically celebrated and the customary ceremony often corresponds to the start of cohabitation. The civil ceremony becomes more often practiced in Bamako in particular. The most frequent sequence of marriage ceremonies is the sequence of the three ceremonies observed together in Bamako; and of the two religious and customary ceremonies in other urban and rural areas. First births occur in the majority after the two or three celebrations and after cohabitation started. However, premarital births are increasing among younger generations in Bamako in particular, and are associated to higher education and later age at first marriage of men and women. Finally, women who are the eldest of their siblings (on their mother's side) have a slightly shorter time until first marriage in Bamako and rural areas than women of other ranks. For men, rank does not have any impact on age at first marriage. Rank of birth of women and men has a significant impact on time to first birth in other urban areas in particular.