The Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) for Pakistan was conducted in 2017-18, but it has become relevant again as the debate on cousin marriages or consanguineous marriages reignited this week, with CNN reporting that in ancient Greece first-cousin marriage not only allowed but encouraged and LUMS professor Ammar Khan sharing a leaf from the 2018 DHS findings that 64% of marriages in Pakistan are between a first cousin, second cousin or another relative.

Cousin marriages are not popular in Pakistan, especially among the younger generation who freak out at the possibility of marrying phupho ka beta (The son of your father’s sister). Still, the country is known for consanguineous marriages.

Mother is always the winner

The DHS data on cousin marriage may appear complex, so we decided to visualize it for you.

The data shows over 32% of the women with little or no education marry their cousin on the father’s side and over 21% on the mother’s side. But as the education level increases we see women marrying outside the family and the prospect of marrying your cousin on the father’s side decline sharply. This is indicated by the blue and teal lines in the graphic above.

However, the case of cousins on the mother’s side is different. Higher education does allow you to refuse a marriage with khala ka beta (maternal aunt’s son) but only marginally. The orange line undergoes little change with the rising level of education.

Perhaps this indicates that education cannot help you win the argument with your mother.

The role of money

A similar trend is seen between cousin marriage and wealth. A poor woman is highly likely (38.4%) to marry a cousin on the father’s side. As the wealth grows, chances of marrying a cousin on the father’s side drop, and the possibility of marriage outside the family rises.

But on the mother’s side money doesn’t seem to play a critical role.

Other findings

The data allow shows that marriage with a first cousin is more common in rural Sindh followed by urban Sindh, and Balochistan.

Age is also a factor. Younger women face higher chances of marrying a cousin on either father or mother’s side. As the age grows, the risk of cousin marriage mitigates, but once you are out of ‘marriagble’ age cousin marriage seems to be the only option left on the table.