Polygamy shows up routinely in peasant societies when there is a severe shortage of men, for example after a war, or when economic hardship causes many young me

Polygamy shows up routinely in peasant societies when there is a severe shortage of men, for example after a war, or when economic hardship causes many young men to leave looking for work, or when severe poverty makes a large proportion of young men unable to afford a family. The young women left behind have few good choices for husbands, and so are forced to choose (or have the choice made for them by their parents) between becoming spinsters (i.e. not marrying and living alone or with their parents into adulthood), or becoming an older man’s second wife (or third, etc.). This causes all kinds of resentment between the multiple wives and often leads to abusive relationships, but is still arguably a better outcome for some of the young women than being stuck unmarried in a context where supporting yourself as a single person is extremely challenging.