Demographic Differences in the Marital Satisfaction of Older Christian Couples in Kiambu County, Kenya

Demographic predictors of marital satisfaction have been the subject of ongoing research interest albeit with mixed results. The purpose of this study was to provide insights into the unique demographic patterns affecting marital satisfaction in later life, particularly within a resource-constrained and Christian-dominated context. This study employed a quantitative research design and was conducted in Kiambu-County, Kenya. Purposive sampling was used to recruit 297 participants. Data on marital satisfaction were collected using a 16-item Couple Satisfaction Index (CSI), with responses scored and aggregated to reflect overall satisfaction. Binary logistic regression was used to examine the relationship between demographic variables and marital satisfaction. Predictor variables included gender, home ownership, age at marriage (categorized), and continuous measures such as income level, years married, and education level. The regression model was statistically significant, χ2 (6) =14.36, p .05). The model correctly classified 75.6% of cases, with 99.3% of high marital satisfaction cases correctly predicted. The results highlight the critical role of home ownership in marital satisfaction among older Christian couples in a developing country context, emphasizing the importance of housing stability over traditional demographic predictors. Thus, the study has contributed to the broader field of marital satisfaction research by focusing specifically on older Christian couples in a resource-constrained context.