Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Nairobi (Agenzia Fides)- “Survey reveals marriage crisis amidst the pressures of modern life ”, was the title of an article in the Kenyan daily The Nation illustrating a survey on married life in this country.
From the survey it emerged that only 40% of Kenyans consider their union a happy one.
Love does not top the list of factors which make two people to decide to marry and to work to keep the marriage going; the first two factors are money and children. Only four out of every ten people interviewed said they married for love.
Six out of every ten married Kenyans said the only element which holds the marriage together was the children and 45 per cent of the persons interviewed said their union was motivated by money and material goods.
The named principal causes of separation were disputes over money matters and interference from in laws, and it emerged that infidelity was no longer the main cause of a broken marriage.
Half the people interviewed said money was the main cause of quarrelling among spouses, followed by interference on the part of the extended family (for 39 per cent of those interviewed).
Where quarrelling had led to separation and divorce, 64 per cent of the persons interviewed blamed money matters for the break up of the marriage, whereas 56 per cent blamed infidelity.
The majority of separated or divorced men blamed the wife for being argumentative and disrespectful.
On the other hand the majority of divorced wives accused husbands of not putting enough commitment into the relationship.
“Besides infidelity and money, the battle for equality emerged as a new 'modern' cause of marriage problems in Kenya” the article said. Half the separated or divorced women interviewed said they divorced because the husband did not treat them as equal partners.
“Interviews with married couples revealed the disastrous decline of the institute of marriage in Kenya, an institution which, according to family advocates, should constitute the very foundation of a nation ” the paper concluded. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 19/6/2010)
