Too Poor to Marry? Employment Crisis and Changing Modes of Union Formation among Young Men in Burkina Faso

Anne E. Calvès, Université de Montréal
Edith Martel, Université de Montréal

Based on a unique retrospective survey data collected in Burkina Faso in 2000, this study examines how increasing unemployment and informalization of youth employment in burkinabé cities have affected young men’s access to marriage over the last decades. More specifically, based on complete employment and union histories the purpose is to analyze how the effect of urban men’s activity on both the timing and nature of first union formation has changed over time. Preliminary descriptive results show that young urban men enter their first union later than they used to and that the average time between first job and first union has significantly increased across cohorts.