to pursue their studies many educated young women are choosing to delay marriage until after graduation even in the oilrich countries known for their conservative gender norms the rise in the share of young unmarried women is apparent the average age of women s marriage in qatar and united arab emirates is but in saudi arabia annex table a the general trend towards delayed marriage is also closely related to the economic crisis and the high levels of unemployment particularly unemployment among young men because men tend to bear the financial burden of marriage