An-Najah Staff

This study examined a number of factors that affect the person's age at the first marriage of both males and females in Nablus as one of the largest governorates in the West Bank. The factors that were taken into consideration are: age of husband and wife at first marriage; number of rooms in their residence and the number of family members; the educational level of husband and wife, the profession of the husband and wife, and finally, the monthly income of the family. Among the findings of this study was that the average age at first marriage in the governorate of Nablus in males rise from time to time: it was 23 years in 1997, rose to 24.9 in 2007 and to 25.9 years. As for females it increased from 18 years in 1997 to 20.1 in 2007, but according to a sample survey for this study in 2011 it fell to 19.6 years. As a result of the statistical analysis using Chi Square Test and Pearson correlation coefficient of these various factors, it was found that there is a difference in the strength of the effect of each. It was shown that the variable age at first marriage for either husband or wife is not independent of the variable type of assembly for each of them, and that the type of assembly impact on age at first marriage for both was 0. It was that found a negative correlation is very weak in males and relatively weak in females and between the variable age at first marriage for both and the number of rooms variable at home. Then the number of family members variable, whether male or female did not affect the average age at first marriage, and the relationship between age at first marriage and educational level was positive but very weak in males and females, and also the effect of profession variable on age at first marriage for males, but not on females. Finally, it revealed a very weak negative correlation between the income variable and the age variable at for males but for females it was strong positive relationship.