Bulgarian Gypsies - Marriage and Family

Family life is the basis of social interaction. Marrying and even socializing with non-Gypsies is avoided. Marriages are sometimes arranged by the parents, with the involvement of the bride and groom. Marital age is typically young, between 16 and 21. Elopements often occur. Divorce used to be rare but in the last twenty years it has become increasingly Common. Marriage and divorce are sanctioned through ritual, and official documents are often avoided. Extended patrilineal patrilocal families were common until the 1960s, but they have been supplemented by nuclear or vertically extended families (three generations).