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Public discourse in contemporary Egypt frequently uses the language of crisis to describe the state of marriage today. In particular, media commentators and policymakers have expressed anxiety over the rising prevalence of involuntary singlehood among young people. Using data from the Egypt Labor Market Panel Survey, this chapter examines trends and differentials in delayed marriage and never-marriage, arguing that there is little empirical support for a marriage crisis, which is more myth than reality. Marriage remains virtually universal in Egypt, and while recent cohorts of men and women marry later today than they did in the past, the average age at first marriage is by no means high by international standards. The chapter also investigates the cost of marriage, the factor most commonly blamed for the so-called marriage crisis, and finds that marriage expenses, while prohibitively high for many, have in fact declined over time.

Marriage has come a long way since biblical times. Across much of the Christian world, women are no longer thought of as property, and practices like polygamy or arranged unions are widely rejected. There remain plenty of conflicting opinions about marriage, however, as the Reformation pushed marriage away from the authority of the Church and toward the state. Still today, Christians wrestle over how marriage can be both civil and religious. Despite this quandary, Christians around the world tend to hold perspectives on marriage that have much in common. But what has changed, almost without notice, is the vision for an ideal marital timetable. Marriage, even in the minds of most Christians, has become less about a foundation to build upon and more of a capstone that marks a successful young adult life. What it certainly means, however, is that fewer people—Christians included—will ever marry at all.

This chapter provides a broad overview of India’s policy and programmatic efforts to address early marriage of girls. It aims to assess the potential of different approaches for addressing the issue of early marriage. It uses recent evidence from a qualitative study in Bihar and Rajasthan to understand the long-standing norms governing early marriage and shifts in social norms around education that have the potential to delay marriage for girls. While the number and variety of policy initiatives launched by the Indian government testify that policymakers recognize the seriousness of the problem of early marriage, gaps in program design and implementation persist. A rich tapestry of work has been done through non-governmental initiatives, some that have been evaluated to be successful need to be taken to scale. The chapter points to existing lacunae, and concludes with key recommendations to improve government efforts to address early marriage of girls in India.

This chapter focuses on how the age at family formation mirrors the different ideals of the red and blue families. According to research, adults use their amygdala which is the evolutionary older, emotion center of the brain in decision-making processes, while teens use their frontal cortex, the evolutionary newer, reason center of the brain which is not as efficient. That being said, the red family couples enter adulthood earlier through the assumption of parental roles due to its higher teen birth rates, therefore they need more support in raising a family. On the other hand, the blue family's delayed-marriage ideal provides the couples with greater room for emotional maturity and financial independence before entering into life-long commitments. This chapter elaborates the differences between the red and blue paradigms within the context of the current changing economy and its impact on marital relationships throughout the country.