The Domestic Cycle in Modern Iceland

Traditional Icelandic patterns of domestic organization have not changed significantly with industrialization and economic growth. For the majority of Icelanders, betrothal represents a decisive first step in the initiation of a new domestic cycle and formation of a household, while marriage symbolizes economic and jural independence.

Information derived primarily from ethnographic interviews indicates that the Icelandic system does not closely adhere to the domestic-cycles model frequently employed by anthropologists, and that it deviates from the so-called "European Marriage Pattern." The association of engagement with procreational rights accounts for a large portion of Iceland's traditionally high premarital birth rate.