In this chapter I shall cover the relationship between capital accumulation in different social groups, and the significance of marriage and the frequency of divorce in those groups. Upon these, the nature of inheritance, i.e. whether it is in marketable property or in nonsaleable land, seems to have a bearing.

Divorce rates and property accumulation

An important question to consider in the attempt to explain different divorce rates is whether the statuses held by a woman in her family of origin and her husband's family are compatible or not, and which of these offers superior rewards. We are reminded of I. M. Lewis's emphasis on unequal agnatic loyalties as a precondition for stable marriage: ‘Where the wife relinquishes her premarital legal status and is incorporated in her husband's group, men and women here being subject to dissimilar agnatic loyalties, marriage is stable.’ If the statuses are not compatible, divorce is more likely. This is the case where a woman inherits property in land which she does not claim, or where her husband is too poor to pay bridewealth and thus acquire rights over her, which exclude those of her family. When divorce is more likely neither husband nor wife see their union as a definitive commitment but maintain an economic bond with, and emotional allegiance to, their kin.