Perceived economic and financial barriers associated with delayed marriage among the University Community at King Abdulaziz University: a field study to rank barriers and analyze demographic differences

Abstract

Background: Official Saudi statistics document a contemporary demographic context characterized by a high average age at first marriage compared to early adulthood, and a significant proportion of young people remaining unmarried. This study does not measure an individual's perceived age at marriage, but rather the economic and financial barriers they face. Objective: To rank seven perceived barriers and test for differences based on gender, income, and employment status. Methodology: A quantitative cross-sectional study using SPSS datasets containing 182 responses from a university community at King Abdulaziz University. Items were measured on a five-point Likert scale, with zero considered invalid. The study employed descriptive statistics and confidence intervals, the Friedman-Kendall W test, Holm-corrected Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, and Welch's tests with effect sizes. Results: Furniture ranked first (M=3.01; 95% CI [2.82, 3.20]) followed by independent housing (M=2.87; 95% CI [2.65, 3.08]). The overall difference between items was significant, but the effect size was small (Kendall’s W=0.044). Differences for gender or household income did not remain significant after Holm correction, while functional differences emerged that require careful interpretation due to overlap with age and marital status. Conclusion: The results describe perceived priorities within a convenient sample from a single university and do not prove that these barriers caused delayed marriage. The study recommends measuring age at marriage, length of postponement, and marriage intention in more representative national longitudinal studies.