Vivre en marge du mariage. Le célibat tardif des femmes à Lomé (Togo)

As in other African capitals, population survey data from Lomé, in Togo, are revealing an increase in extended singlehood among women. Using qualitative data collected between 2011 and 2019 in Lomé, this article explores the social situations of women who are approaching the age of 30, or over 30, and who have never been married. It shows that a certain category of women, city-dwelling and often university graduates and/or financially independent, are marrying later and later in life, aspiring to other forms of social achievement before and in addition to marriage, in a context where the compatibility of marriage and work remains challenging in various respects. Few of these women do not want to get married at all and are comfortable with that idea: most aspire to marriage or wish to marry to guarantee a form of social tranquillity. In addition to rising levels of education, it is the desire for independence—particularly financial—and in a social context where the living and working conditions of men are deteriorating, that is complicating the path to marriage for women and destabilizing existing gender norms.