Making Sense of Marriage: Gender and the Transition to Adulthood in Nairobi, Kenya
Outcomes: Child, Early, and Forced Marriage, Sexual and Reproductive Health
View SourceKey Social Norms Take-aways While the article does not explicitly address or measure social norms, it offers valuable insights into shared beliefs and expectations about marriage and adulthood among youth in Nairobi. The study highlights how marriage is broadly understood as a marker of adulthood, but with differing meanings and desirability across genders. Young men often internalize the expectation to marry but feel economically unprepared, while young women more frequently express ambivalence or aversion due to concerns about educational disruption, gendered power dynamics, and the risk of abuse. Both groups see financial readiness as a key condition for formal marriage. Cohabitation or “come-we-stay” arrangements have become normalized as more accessible alternatives. These perspectives reveal how gendered expectations around marriage, provision, and autonomy shape decision-making, even as youth in Nairobi begin to redefine traditional pathways to adulthood.
Objectives To examine how young people living in Nairobi’s informal settlements understand the meaning and importance of marriage both in their personal lives and as a social marker of adulthood, and to explore how these understandings differ by gender in the context of shifting union formation patterns in urban Kenya.
Methods The study uses qualitative data from 74 in-depth, semi-structured interviews conducted in 2009 with young men and women (ages 13–24) in Korogocho and Viwandani, two slum settlements in Nairobi. Participants were drawn from a larger cohort study on youth transitions to adulthood and selected to reflect diversity in life experiences. Interviews explored views on marriage, adulthood, relationships, and aspirations. Thematic coding was applied to analyze personal and normative importance of marriage, and results were further examined for gendered patterns.
Results Marriage continues to be seen as important, but young people’s views fall into three typologies: marriage-centered, marriage-ambivalent, and marriage-averse. More men were marriage-centered, associating marriage with adulthood and future plans once financially stable. Women more frequently expressed ambivalence or aversion, citing fear of early marriage disrupting education, risk of abuse, and a preference for economic independence. Both boys and girls viewed financial readiness as a prerequisite for marriage. Cohabitation is widespread but not always viewed as equivalent to formal marriage.
Conclusions Despite economic constraints and shifting aspirations, marriage remains a key marker of adulthood. However, gendered differences in how it is approached reflect evolving expectations and adaptations among youth in Nairobi’s urban poor communities.
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