Qatari Government: Large Households "Crucial To The National Vision"

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Figures also show Qatari women are having their first child at a later age and having fewer children overall. Divorce rates have risen since 2001. And local press reports say a quarter of marriageable Qatari women remain single. These are worrying trends for a country where nationals are already heavily outnumbered by migrants.

Accordingly, Qatar has been taking measures to ensure "the continuity of cohesive families and large households", which it sees as "crucial to the national vision", according to Qatar's National Development Strategy Report. As part of that strategy, last week Qatar Charity launched Zawaj, a marriage programme, which will offer pre-marital counselling and financial assistance to Qatari couples. The couples may also be provided with free wedding tents "in a bid to reduce marriage expenses and help preserve the institution of marriage", according to Qatar's national news agency.

The moves by Qatar Charity to reach out to prospective couples follow those of the Qatari government, which decided late last year to begin construction of a number of wedding halls to bring down the costs of getting married. They will be free for Qataris to use.

The halls will give Qataris more options to control the prices of weddings, said Hassan Al-Ibrahim, a Qatari commentator. Qatar is a small country where the nationals all know each other, he noted. "People are expecting you to invite them to your wedding. They are expecting you to invite them to your brother's wedding or your sister's wedding ... It is not an option to say, 'I want to have a small wedding.' Because if you wanted to have a small wedding, people might be insulted."

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http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/03/2013325960553179.html