A Study of the Determinants of the Gap between theActual and Ideal Age of Marriage in Kohgiluyeh andBoyer-Ahmad

In the last few decades, The average age of marriage has had a considerable increase, it seems that such an increase is not due to a change in people’s tendencies. There is a gap between the actual age of marriage and the ideal age for people, and a number of factors have caused the gap to appear. The present study aims to examine the determinants of the gap between the actual and the ideal age of marriage. The statistical population of the study consists of those who are at the age of marriage in the province of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad. The sample size was 400 people which was based on the proportion of the cities’ population. The results showed that more than 60% of participants experienced a gap between their real and ideal age of marriage. Such a gap has been positive for the majority of people. This means that the percentage of people who postponed the ideal time of their marriage is high. Multivariate analysis indicates that education, value orientation, and employment status affect the real and the ideal age of marriage among men. For women, on the other hand, education, family income, value orientation, and employment status have an impact on the aforementioned gap. Approximately among half of the participants the ideal age of marriage was less than the actual age of their marriage, policymakers can provide the structural prerequisites so that the problem of postponed marriage can be resolved, as it is one of the main concerns of the country. And as evidenced by the study’s findings, people have a positive attitude towards marriage at an early age.