Estimating the Health and Socioeconomic Effects of Cousin Marriage in South Asia

Abstract

The effects of marriage between biological relatives on the incidence of childhood genetic illness and mortality are of major policy significance, as rates of consanguinity exceed 50% in various countries. Empirical research on this question is complicated by the fact that consanguinity is often correlated with poverty and other unobserved characteristics of households, which may have independent effects on mortality. This study has developed an instrumental variables empirical strategy to re-examine this question, based on the concept that the availability of unmarried cousins of the opposite gender at the time of marriage creates quasi-random variation in the propensity to marry consanguineously. Using primary data collected in Bangladesh in 2006-07 and Pakistan in 2009-10, the study found that previous estimates of the impact of consanguinity on child health were biased and falsely precise. The study also empirically investigated the social and economic causes of consanguinity (including marital quality) and concludes that marrying a cousin can have positive economic effects for one's natal family, by allowing deferral of dowry payments until after marriage.

Five Novel Deleterious Variants in FANCA, FANCF and FANCG Identified in Pakistani Fanconi Anemia Families Using Exome Sequencing

“…We were unable to evaluate consanguinity in 14 of the families in this study due to lack of parental DNA samples. However, the presence of homozygous pathogenic variants in our data is consistent with prior studies reporting an approximately 70% rate of consanguineous marriages in Pakistan (66)(67)(68). Nine of the 14 pathogenic variants identi ed have been previously reported (Table 2) (12,(14)(15)(16)(17)(18).…”

Genetic and reproductive consequences of consanguineous marriage in Bangladesh

“…However, it is important to note that CM is religiously allowed in Islam but not encouraged [31,32]. As a Muslim-dominant country in South Asia, CM is practiced in Bangladesh [24,25,33]. However, the prevalence, causal factors, and genetic and reproductive consequences had not been studied thoroughly [24,25].…”

Hereditary Hematologic Disorders in Najaf Province-Iraq

“…Thalassemia is highly concentrated in small towns where the consanguinity between relatives is more predominant and marrying close family members is a tradition in many countries including Iraq, leading to higher rates of genetic disorders (49). The latter investigation also reported that the frequency of genetic disorders among such children is around twice that in children of non-related parents (50,51). One billion people worldwide live in countries where marriage among relatives is common.…”

“…One billion people worldwide live in countries where marriage among relatives is common. Of this billion, one in three is married to a second cousin or closer relative or is the progeny of such a marriage (50,51). In Iraq, the consanguinity is still widely spread and predominant (52) and some areas showed consanguinity in around 60% of all marriages (53).…”