this is a slightly different direction--one could theorize that polygamy could help in situations where there are not enough men and too many women.
This is not some trivial notion I just made up in my head. My great-great grandmother had exactly this happen. Dirt poor in the desert west, her husband just died, kids to take care of. Her husband, before he died, asked his friend to marry her as a second wife and take care of his family. Which this man honored. I have the name of the first husband, but I'm actually blood of the 2nd.
But in Iraq, I presume polygamy is legal. Marrying a dirt poor woman + kids, I'm not sure how that is viewed in their society, but I presume there is not a great incentive to do so.
[/End thought experiment and ruminating]
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