Polygamy

From Wikigender.org

Prevalence of polygamy around the world.

The term polygamy (a Greek word meaning "the practice of multiple marriage") can be defined as any form of marriage in which a person has more than one spouse. Polygamy frequently involves one man having multiple wives, which makes it particular relevant in the context of gender equality as women in polygamous relationships are often disadvantaged in terms of their personal development (e.g. less access to education and health care). Recent research furthermore shows that polygamous households in the developing world tend to have a lower saving and investment rate, which make them particularly vulnerable to poverty.

Definition

Polygamy is the practice of marriage to more than one spouse simultaneously. Historically, polygamy has been practiced as polygyny (one man having more than one wife), or as polyandry (one woman having more than one husband), or, less commonly as "polygamy" (one person having many wives and many husbands at the same time).

In contrast, monogamy is the practice of each person having only one spouse. Like monogamy, the term is often used in a de facto sense, regardless of whether the relationships are recognized by the state. In many countries of the world, polygmaous relationships are prohibited by law.

Forms of polygamy

Polygamy exists in mainly two destinct forms: polygyny (one man having multiple wives) and polyandry (one woman having multiple husbands). Historically, both practices have been found, but polygyny is by far the most common in the world.

Polygyny

Polygyny describes a situation in which one man is either married to or involved in sexual relationships with a number of different women at one time. This is the most common form of polygamy. Polygyny is practiced in a traditional sense in many Middle East and African countries today, including South Africa and most of Southern and Central Africa and the Caribbean. It appears more often in highly patriarchical societies. "Polygyny" was once practiced by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (commonly called Mormons) and practiced today by their fundamentalist offshoots.

Polyandry

Polyandry is a practice where a woman is married to more than one man at the same time. It is also known as wife sharing. Fraternal polyandry was traditionally practiced among nomadic Tibetans in Nepal and parts of China, in which two or more brothers share the same wife. Polyandry is believed to be more likely in societies with scarce environmental resources, as it is believed to limit human population growth and enhance child survival. A woman can only have so many children in her lifetime, no matter how many husbands she has. On the other hand, a child with many "fathers", all of whom provide resources, is more likely to survive.

Polygamy and Household Saving and Investment

Polgyamy may influence of saving and investment behaviour of households. As Tertilt (2005) explains, polygamy leads to rationing women by high bride-prices. As a consequence “buying” wives and “selling” daughters are good investments which crowd out investment in physical assets. At any given point of time, men have large stocks of liquid savings, which will be never invested but consumed by the wife’s father. By a comparison between countries with high rates of polygamy and monogamous countries located in the same zone (close to the Equator) Tertilt (2005) shows that polygamy entails a large increase of fertility and an even larger decrease of savings and output per capita. Much of this behaviour therefore corresponds to unproductive saving, in the sense that it contributes less to future income growth than schooling or acquiring durable or capital goods.

Based on an analysis of Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, de Laiglesia and Morrisson (2008) find that polygamy increases fertility and, by enlarging households, leads to lower incomes per capita. Moreover, the costs incurred in successive marriages explain a lower propensity to save and invest because dowries crowd out investment in physical assets.