Family Demographic Transition in Saudi Arabia: Emerging Issues and Concerns

Abstract

A profound reduction in Saudi Arabia’s fertility rate has influenced household size and family composition, slowly and steadily. Moreover, the increasing number of never married women, marital dissolutions, women entering into the labor force, and so on has also influenced changes in Saudi Arabian families. Family demographics influence values, norms, and filial responsibilities of not only family members but also of society. Families are changing globally as a result of transitions in marriage, fertility, and livelihoods. In Islamic countries such as Saudi Arabia, studies of family demography aim to understand the emerging issues and at the same time to preserve and strengthen traditional family values. This article examines changes in fertility patterns and extends into the structure, distribution, composition, roles, and responsibility of families, taking into account changes in size, composition and distribution, and median age of families. It has found that the analyses and interpretations, in this article, need to be endorsed where those indicators discussed help identify the emerging issues of family demographic transition and changes in the family values and traditions and thus facilitate policy formulation. This study makes use of two sets of data: censuses (i.e., 1992, 2004, and 2010) and demographic surveys (i.e., 2000, 2007, and 2016).