Zambia Demographic and Health Survey 2001-2002 - Measure DHS

Table 6.1 shows that one-fourth of women aged 15-49 in Zambia have never married, while 61percent are formally married, 1 percent are living together and 14 percent are either widowed, divorced orseparated. Marriage occurs relatively early in Zambia and all but a tiny fraction of women eventuallymarry; less than 1 percent of those age 35 and over have never married. The proportion who are divorcedor widowed generally increases with age.Similar patterns are true for men as well. More than one-third of men aged 15-59 have nevermarried, while 58 percent are married, and 5 percent are either widowed, divorced or separated. Men tendto marry at older ages than women, which is why the overall proportion of men who have never marriedis higher than for women (36 percent of men compared with 25 percent of women).There has been little change in the distribution by marital status since 1996, except that youngmen appear to be increasingly likely to marry. Men in their mid- to late twenties and early thirties aremore likely to be married in 2001-2002 than men of the same age group in 1996 (75 percent and 68percent, respectively).6.2 POLYGYNYPolygyny (the practice of having more than one wife at the same time) has implications forfrequency of sexual activity and fertility. Married women were asked whether their husbands had otherwives, and if so, how many. Married men were asked whether they had only one or more than one wife orpartner with whom they were living.Table 6.2 shows that 16 percent of married women in Zambia are in polygynous unions. Twelvepercent say they have only one co-wife, while 4 percent say they have two or more co-wives. Marriedmen are less likely to report having multiple wives; only 9 percent say they have two or more wives. Thediscrepancy is due in part to the fact that, by definition, more married women than men are in polygynousunions. It could also be due to differences in classifying girlfriends, i.e., a tendency for women to reporttheir husbands’ girlfriends as wives, while their husbands do not.The level of polygyny increases with age for both women and men. The increase among womenis from 8 percent among married women age 15-19 to 24 percent among those age 40-44. Rural womenare more likely to be in polygynous unions than urban women. Provincial differences are marked: 30percent of married women in Southern province are in polygynous unions, compared with 3 percent ofwomen in Copperbelt province. Polygyny is also high in Central, Eastern, Western, and Northernprovinces, with more than 20 percent of married women in polygynous unions. Data for men showsimilar patterns. The prevalence of polygynous unions decreases with increasing education for bothwomen and men.Overall, the level of polygyny among women has declined from 17 percent in 1996 to 16 percentin 2001-2002, while it has stayed at 9 percent for men.94 │ Other Determinants of Fertility