The Higher Planning Commission in Morocco released a report addressing levels of the age gap between spouses on the occasion of National Women’s Day, which is held every year on October 10th, in an attempt to explain this phenomenon via the characteristics of women in the Moroccan context. The National Population and Family Health Surveys from 2004, 2011, and 2018 were used as data sources.
In most countries, the woman is the youngest member of the couple, and the age gaps between spouses are sometimes relatively high, mainly in Arab-Muslim countries where traditions and social norms nourish and accentuate this practice.
“In Morocco, half of the couples had an age difference of more than 6 years in 2004 and more than 7 years in 2011 and 2018. As for the average age gap, it rose from 7.2 years in 2004 to 7.7 years in 2011, then to 7.9 years in 2018,” says the HCP in this report entitled “the woman and age gap between spouses in Morocco”, published on the occasion of the National Women’s Day.
According to HCP, based on the area of residence, the average age gaps do not differ and remain the same, noting that couples living in urban areas have an average age gap of about 7.4 years in 2004, 7.9 years in 2011, and 8.1 years in 2018.
Couples living in rural areas have average age gaps of 0.4 years lower than urban couples for the survey taken in 3 years, adds the HCP.
This increase in the average age gap which has been observed nationwide since 2004, is the result of a decrease in the part of women married to younger or same-age men, on the one hand, and an increase in the percentage of women married to older men, on the other hand, explains the HCP.
HPC noted that in 2018, 87.1% of women were younger than their husbands, 9.5% were the same age, and only 3.4% were older. These percentages were respectively about 82.9%, 12.0% and 5.1% in 2004.
In addition, the percentage of couples with age gaps between 2 and 9 years decreases, while the rate of partners with gaps between 10 and 20 years increases over time.
The age gap between spouses is calculated according to their age at the time of the survey by subtracting the woman’s age from the man’s age.
The data sources used in the report are based on 2004, 2011, and 2018 National Population and Family Health surveys.