Class, Marriage and Marital Status in Nepal

The trends and patterns of marriage and marital status are gradually changing worldwide, including in Nepal.These changes are influenced by various factors, such as employment, income, and economic status or class.This paper examines the evolving patterns of marriage and marital status among individuals in Nepal over the past 25 years (one generation), utilizing high quality longitudinal data from the Nepal Living Standard Survey (NLSS) from 1995/96 to 2022/23.Nepali society is progressively shifting from poverty to prosperity as efforts to reduce poverty take effect.This paper argues that as long as poverty persists among a significant portion of the population, noticeable differences in marital status will remain between the poor and the non-poor, highlighting a significant association between economic class and marital status.However, as prosperity increases and the proportion of the population categorized as poor decreases, the association between marital status and economic class diminishes.Consequently, marriage and marital practices are primarily influenced by the existence of two distinct economic classes within the broader population: the poor and the non-poor (poverty and prosperity), which also includes varying consumption quintiles.This conclusion aligns with Karl Marx's thesis that the economic base (class structure) fundamentally shapes the superstructure, including marriage and marital practices, as observed in the context of Nepal.