[5][6] Despite these exceptions, there have been no reports of a legally contracted polygamous marriage in Ghana; and are considered to be "de facto" illegal.
[9] It was believed to be more prevalent in places where colonial economic gains centered on subsistence farming (e.g. Africa).
Currently (2015), Polygamy is illegal in Ghana, although laws against this lifestyle are not heavily enforced against those who choose to live it.
Men in polygamous marriages can more easily transfer the costs of childbearing and rearing to women.
Those who could afford and maintain more than one wife, or those, who because of their occupation such as farming, trading and laundry saw advantages of the lifestyle, usually were those who practiced polygyny.
The extent of spousal communication about contraception, which is positively associated with the level of use, is also lower among polygamous spouses.
It is also said that there was an economic factor why this happened: there were issues of property ownership that conflicted with European colonial interest.