The attitude of the contemporary youth of Akropong in the Akuapem North district of Ghana towards marriage.

Abstract

Marriage is an important social institution which is cherished and respected in most African societies. However, the trend has changed as most of the contemporary youth in Akropong Akuapem in the Eastern Region of Ghana do not seem to cherish or respect marriage anymore. The purpose of this study was to find out the reasons for the change in attitude towards marriage among the youth. A semi-structured interview guide was used to elicit the views of the youth, traditional leaders, religious leaders and social workers on the topic. Forty (40) respondents comprising; thirty youth, four religious leaders, three traditional leaders and three social workers were purposively sampled for the study. The data obtained was transcribed and analysed under themes and sub-themes that emerged from the research questions. Data from the study revealed that: • Factors such as high cost of marriage, the job the youth engage in and the educational attainment of the youth influenced their attitude negatively towards marriage. • It was also revealed that female youth desired to get married earlier than their male counterparts. • The study further revealed that religious affiliation of the youth had had positive influence on their attitude towards marriage. The study recommended that: • Religious leaders, traditional leaders and social workers as well as parents should educate the youth on the true meaning of marriage. Local newspapers like the “Akuapem Amannee” of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana should be giving weekly highlights on the importance of marriage. These will go a long way to change the perception and the understanding of the youth about marriage. • Religious leaders should be liberal when it comes to selection of future partners among the youth. They should not be restricted to select from their Churches or one particular sect only. This will enable the youth to have a wider field from which to choose their suitors based on their values, love, belief and other important factors. University of Education, Winneba http://ir.uew.edu.gh x • Programmes that will give the youth insight-into issues on marriage such as peer counselling, pre-marital counselling workshops on preparation towards marriage, seminars on dating and other related topics on marriage should be organized by religious bodies and social clubs. This will help the youth to develop better attitude towards marriage.