Marriage loses its pull as few SA women say 'I do'

Marriage appears to be losing its appeal for South African women, with the proportion of women aged 15 and older who are married dropping significantly over the past three decades. In 1996, 38.8% of women fit this category, but by 2022, that number had fallen to 25.6%.

The data, part of a report by Statistics South Africa, also reveals that women are increasingly choosing to live together without getting married, a trend that has grown from 4.9% in 1996 to 8.2% in 2022.

Despite the decline in marriage, the Western Cape remains a significant location for civil marriages, registering 23% of the country's civil weddings in 2024, just behind Gauteng's 24.1%. Additionally, South Africans are increasingly waiting longer to get married. The median age for women entering a civil marriage in 2024 was 35, while for men it was 39.

Furthermore, there are fewer marriages being registered compared to a decade ago. In 2024, South Africa recorded 102,373 marriages and unions, a decline of nearly 29% from the 143,279 recorded in 2015. The latest figures do not explain why fewer women are getting married, but the report does show that women's lives have changed considerably since 1996. This includes increased education, employment opportunities, and a shifting role within households.

Nearly half of South African households were headed by women in 2022, compared to 37.8% in 1996. The 57.1% figure refers to women who have never been married, a category that includes women who may still choose to marry later. However, when combined, the figures paint a clear picture of a significant change in the lives of South African women over the past three decades: fewer women are getting married, more couples are cohabiting without marriage, and those who do marry are doing so later in life.