Qatar's relentless population rise may be about to halt. According to a report in gulfnews.com the growth of the population may slow or even be reversed due to a change in marriage habits. A increasing number of Qatari women are marrying later in life and twenty five percent of women of a child bearing age remain unmarried. One third of those who do get married will end up getting divorced.
A slowdown in the increase of the population may not be a bad thing. Qatar only has to look at Saudi Arabia, where a massive increase in the population has led to the GDP per person more than halving since the 1970's.
The report seems to put pressure on Qatari women to marry and have families. However, some more liberal observers may have sympathy for the Qatari women, many of whom are well educated and occupy important positions in Government. It's not long since it was suggested that in order to decrease philandering by Qatar men, those men should take second wives. Perhaps, at the same time, we could also heal alcoholics in Qatar by increasing their alcohol allowance.
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