that marriage from around 22 to 23 years of age, upon completing post-secondary education, was the ideal marriage age for young women. However higher female enrolment rates amongst young ex-Gaza women in Jerash does not seem to fully explain later marriage, with overall enrolment being broadly similar to citizen Palestinian refugees (Table 5). Table 5 Current enrolment of women aged 20 to 24 by ex-Gaza status and age. Percentage (n=7,739). 20 21 22 23 24 All Ex-Gazans, Jerash camp 23 24 13 7 6 16 Other ex-Gazans 24 17 7 3 2 11 Other Palestinian refugees 34 21 13 5 3 16 In terms of marriage to outsiders, in the qualitative interviews in Jerash camp, some residents asserted that ex-Gaza women preferred to marry Jordanians so that their children could acquire citizenship (which is only passed down the male line). This appears to be at odds with patterns in the data finding ten times more ex-Gaza men married to Jordanian citizen women in Jerash than vice-versa, despite this depriving these women’s children of rights as citizens 49. One in five couples in Jerash comprise an ex-Gaza husband and non-ex-Gaza wife, while couples comprising ex-Gaza women with non-ex-Gaza husbands make up only one in 50 couples. However, this picture can be explained by the tradition of women settling at the husband’s place of residence. Hence a majority of ex-Gaza women from Jerash camp would move out of the camp upon marrying a man from elsewhere, potentially skewing the ex-Gaza female population remaining in Jerash towards the unmarried. Conversely, women from elsewhere would tend to move into Jerash camp upon marrying a man from there. This practice is confirmed by the fact that 73% of all Jordanian citizens in Jerash camp are women who moved into the camp at marriage age. Consequently, the lower overall marriage rate amongst ex-Gaza women in Jerash seems to be largely offset by ex-Gaza men marrying women from outside the camp. Since a large majority of ex-Gazans in Jerash (over 82%) are born in the camp (compared to 81% of ex-Gazans outside Jerash and 78% of non-ex-Gazans), more than three quarters of couples (78%) both originate from the camp. Given the overwhelming predominance of ex-Gazans in Jerash camp, limited marriage to outsiders may not be unexpected and, as we shall see, is in line with other indicators of insularity in Jerash camp. However, a closer look at the marriages between ex-Gazans reveals that intermarriage between those whose families report originating in Gaza and those whose families report originating in Beersheba (in historic Palestine) is also very limited, with only 6% of fully ex-Gaza couples hailing from different areas, suggesting, as several individual interviews confirmed, that family and tribal profile may also play a significant role in determining marriages within the camp. Additional rights for the children of Jordanian women married to non-Jordanian men was announced in late 2014 after the survey was carried out. See Cabinet decision No. 6415 Concerning the Easing of Restrictions on Children of Jordanian Mothers Married to Non-Jordanians (November 9, 2014). 49 ‘Just getting by’ Ex-Gazans in Jerash and other refugee camps in Jordan 31