KUWAIT CITY, Jan 11: According to some experts, the decision to withdraw citizenship under Article 8 could help reduce spinsterhood among Kuwaiti women. Official statistics from the Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI) revealed that as of mid- 2024, the total number of unmarried Kuwaiti women aged 30 and above reached 39,765. The number of married Kuwaiti women stood at 269,611. Of these, 250,140 are married to Kuwaitis, while 18,002 are married to individuals of Arab nationalities. Also, 693 Kuwaiti women are married to individuals from Asian countries, 50 to non-Arab African nationals, about 264 to Europeans, 402 to North Americans, 64 to South Americans, and 39 to Australians. The Director General of the Gulf Center for Information and Documentation Dr. Ibrahim Al- Shukri affirmed that the withdrawal of citizenship under Article 8 would have a positive impact on societal dynamics.

He explained that it would significantly reduce the marriage of Kuwaiti youth to foreigners. The statistics show that the ease of marriage to non-Kuwaiti women was what contributed to an increase in the number of unmarried Kuwaiti women. By not granting citizenship to non-Kuwaiti women married to Kuwaitis, Kuwaiti youth would be more likely to seek marriage with Kuwaiti women. Dr. Al-Shukri stressed that Kuwaiti society holds conservative customs and traditions, due to which a wife needs to be Kuwaiti so that children inherit the mother’s customs and traditions.

Meanwhile, a professor of family psychology Dr. Ahmed Salama stated that the state’s decisions regarding the withdrawal of nationalities under Article 8 will inevitably lead to a more balanced societal structure. He explained that families in which the father is Kuwaiti and the mother is non-Kuwaiti often experience challenges related to the dispersion of their children’s identity and dual loyalty to two countries. These decisions would put an end to the self-interest of some foreign women who married Kuwaiti citizens with the hope of acquiring Kuwaiti citizenship. In the past, marriages between Kuwaiti citizens and non-Kuwaiti women were often successful, as material interests did not factor into these unions. Consequently, these families did not face the same issues as those where material interests played a role in the marriage. Dr. Salama referred to a saying often repeated in Kuwaiti society: “Whoever marries someone outside their nationality dies with their illness”, noting that divorce rates tend to be higher in marriages involving non-Kuwaiti women. He explained that there is a significant number of women who filed for divorce after acquiring Kuwaiti citizenship.

However, it would be unfair to generalize these cases, as there are also many successful marriages where excellent non-Kuwaiti women, particularly from Gulf and Arab countries, gained citizenship through marriage. Family stability depends on the choice of the wife. Given that Kuwaiti society is filled with upstanding women, whether married for the first time or divorced/widowed, there is no reason why Kuwaiti men should not prioritize marrying Kuwaiti women.