The Explorer Islamabad: Journal of Social Sciences ISSN (E): 2411-0132, ISSN (P): 2411-5487 Vol-1, Issue (7):246-250 www.theexplorerpak.org 246 LATE MARRIAGES AND INFERTILITY: AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL ANALYSIS ON HEALTH Hina Saleem, Dr. Abid Ghafoor Chaudhry, Adil Jabbar, Sara Mishal Department of Anthropology, PMAS-Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi Corresponding Author: Hina Saleem PMAS- Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi h.saleem74@hotmail.com Abstract: Pakistan one of the South Asian countries where the trend of late marriages is on an increase affects the fertility rate visibly. Late marriage and infertility has an imperative relationship which going to be one of the most dominant phenomena in our current societal settings. The aim of the study is to explore the causes of late marriages and its effects on fertility. The study was conducted in the vicinity of Rawalpindi. The sample size was70 respondents selected by using convenient sampling technique. The data was collected by questionnaire tool. The study revealed that education of women, caste system, phobia of idealistic life and economic empowerment are the major causes of late marriages. The study also showed that 65.7% respondents agreed with the fact that late marriages do affect the fertility, due to which complications arise in conceiving a baby or miscarriages and sometimes leads to infertility in spouses. The males and females both are responsible for infertility in this regard. Key Words: Infertility, Late Marriages, infecundity, Miscarriages, Anthropology, Women, Caste System INTRODUCTION Marriage is one of the important social institutions in Pakistani society which is creating strong bond and ties among families. Marriage is a bond between a female and a male who start living together, having sexual, social and cultural intimacy and share liǀelihood to liǀe a life (Saleem, et al. 2015).According to Nations (1990) it is a universal social institution. In the marriage institution the strong bonds and intimacy is strengthened by the birth of child which on the contrary declines due to infertility. One of the root causes of this is late marriages practiced by both male and female in the society. Late marriage is one of the prevailing universal trends where people decide to get married at later ages. Delayed marriage is an undeniable trend in the United States. By the early 1990s, median marriage age had risen to its highest level in the 20th century, for both women and men. From the mid-1980s, it has become increasingly evident that throughout several East and Southeast Asian countries the age of marriage has increased almost up to 25 years for women at their first marriage (Leete 1994). People are now more likely to be materialistic and marriages are now becoming optional in this era, where everybody is struggling for getting more and more riches in order to have better living standards. They are also afraid of losing their social and economic freedom which understandably is a part of getting married. Achieving high social status is one of the major factors in late marriages. Todays living generation are inclined towards luxurious life and for meeting this demand they spend most of their time in making money even at the cost of ignoring one of the most important social institution of life. Thus this neglect later becomes cause of some serious issues in their later lives. The growing trend of late marriages is causing some serious issues in society. Some of the major causes behind delayed marriages are cultural, economic, social and educational factors. Todays ŵen remain busy in pursuit of good career and money to fulfill their luxurious needs. Presence of uŶŵarried sisters iŶ house is the social factor behind delayed marriages. A brother with sisters has to earn a lot for the marriages of his sisters while delaying his own marriage. One of the changing trends for delaying marriage is Đlosely assoĐiated ǁith rise in eduĐatioŶal attaiŶŵeŶt (Caldwell, et al. 1982).The cause of postponement of marriage is related to the changed role and traditional status of women (Sathar and Kiyani 1998).The most important change which is likely to occur as a result of rising age at marriage of females is change in their status. Most female tend to achieve higher educational qualification before thinking of a married life. Thus prolong years of study make them older and out of the desired age bracket suitable for marriage. On the contrary however higher educational qualification of women cause sense of superiority