[Reading this in-depth study presupposes knowledge of the content presented in the cultural test relating to this practice]

Among the Roma, the marriage system is considered a central element of culture, necessary for the maintenance of differences with the majority, and therefore a symbol of resistance to assimilation. The patterns of this marriage system have decisive consequences on social life, educational, work and residential choices, the formation of kinship groups, demography and health. It is a complex and changeable institutional system, consisting of repeated values, beliefs and practices related to family conflict resolution and social control, as well as beliefs and values related to femininity. These strategies are also decisive in shaping the demographic structure of the group and its resistance to assimilation, and continue to be so despite the changes that have occurred in many areas of Roma life over the past thirty years. This is why marriage ceremonies continue to be focal points of system consolidation and collective markers of difference and identity.
In Roma marriage, the role of the family is fundamental: it presents itself as a supreme, unique and indivisible power, uniting all members of the group and acting as a central government. Values, morals, language, customs and the feeling of identity: this cultural tradition belonging to the Roma people is transmitted by the family institution. In fact, the Roma kinship structure makes it possible to maintain ties by fostering the groups' production and economic subsistence methods, solidarity, cooperation and mutual aid. The family is also the refuge and fortress of protection against any external aggression by the gagé society. Marriage therefore constitutes one of the pillars of the family. Marital union opens and closes ties, strengthening the bonds between members belonging to the same or a different group. ​

It is one of the main bases of social organisation, in which filiation rights and the political ties it creates affect both spouses and the respective family groups to which they belong. The marriage system thus enables the transfer of rights, obligations, property and symbols, functioning as a generator of norms. The family, and the institution of marriage in the Roma community, present themselves as sources of information for each individual, distributors of status, rights and duties, as well as support for the structure of political and economic organisation between families and groups, based on relations of mutual solidarity. Among the Roma, it is difficult to conceive of an individual outside the family and the group, which is why the rite of marriage is a form of recognition indicative of the legal character attributed to it by members of the various Roma groups, and the cultural perpetuation of this type of marriage is undoubtedly due to the corporatist force with which it is endowed.
The marriage system is, therefore, a fundamental part of Roma reproductive strategies that has been, and continues to be, of crucial importance; but it is also a system that has been transformed in the last three decades, since Roma have had almost universal access to compulsory primary education, i.e. since they have received significant public support and contributions in the form of subsidies and public income, housing and health care. Currently, the average age of marriage is 16 for girls and 18 for boys, with a clear upward trend in the minimum age.