2m marriageable Saudi women yet to tie the knot

DAMMAM, 8 July 2016: The number of marriageable Saudi women, above 15, was 2,099,750 in 2015, according to data released by the general authority for statistics. In stark contrast, the number of men aged 15 to 39 who never got married stands at merely 107,673, pointing to a huge gap between the social status of men and women in the Kingdom. Last year, the figures released by the Ministry of Economy and Planning for 2014 of unmarried women and men were 1.4 million and 600,000, respectively. A comparison of the figures of these two years indicates that the number of men and women who are yet to be married is growing rapidly. Official statistics also show that the number of unmarried men and women has grown 15 times compared to 1995. Abdullah Obaid Al-Omari, professor of sociology at the social studies department of King Saud University, said women do not enter marriages due to social and economic reasons. Women are keener to work and want more financial independence. This often makes them postpone marriage until after graduating from university and often until after getting employed. The growing cost of living, the low salaries of many youths and the very high cost of marriage, which could reach SR200,000, are some of the reasons women marry late. Another reason is social: Some Saudi families will not allow their daughters to marry except in certain tribes, which limits the choice of many young women. Courtesy: ArabNews