Disadvantages Of Monogamy Vs Polygamy

A MARRIAGE OF EQUALS:

The consequences of monogamy on economic and social development in Europe

One of the fundamental institutions that determine family systems and female agency in a country is monogamy versus polygamy. Polygamy means a marriage between multiple people, whereas in a monogamy a person is exclusively married to one person. I define marriage as an institution between people, based on choices that are made to maximize their own utility. This rationale decides who they will marry and when they will marry, bounded by the legal constraints of one 's country. The highest utility is constructed of multiple factors, including one’s survival rate, their children’s survival rate, and other more cultural depending factors like affection

This payment at marriage ensured status-maintenance of the upper-class and kept linear-based citizenship regulated because it enabled parents to actively influence the decisions in marriage. A direct influence to bride-price is the marriage sex ratio. When there is a disequilibrium (the ratio is unequal to one), it can be solved by a positive (bride-wealth) or negative (dowry) payment. In a society that allows polygamy there tend to be a bride-wealth payment so that a man can ‘buy’ multiple wives, thus making daughters a profitable asset for the parents. In monogamous systems, a disequilibrium will mostly result in dowry payments. The ones unable to obtain a partner will be forced into celibacy. This system severely limited any financial gain of marriage for the parents. In the Middle Ages it were mostly the daughters that were a liability, since most of them had no inheritance nor the chance to

2) Overview monogamy and polygamy in EurAsia

I will include an overview of the differences between marriage systems in EurAsia, focussing on the development of monogamy as a whole. This will be similar as part two in this paper, however I will now include Asia and relevant countries in the Middle East. I will start with a general overview of the region and a short history background.

3) The social and economic consequences of monogamy and polygamy

I will then follow with the consequences of both marriage systems. The exact division of this part will be largely based upon most of my findings (I am still reading resources surrounding Asia), but it seems that it will be roughly the same. There will be a part upon the view of children, the development of pension funds and saving, on overall equality (gender and general) and on impacts on education. In this way I will try to show how and to what extend polygamy versus monogamy impacts the great divergence in EurAsia.

4) Conclusion

I will briefly conclude my