“To save daughters from malnutrition, it is necessary that they get married at the right time,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech in August 2020. After more than a year since then, the Union cabinet has approved the proposal to raise the age of marriage for women from 18 to 21 years, to bring it on par with that of men. The proposal was recommended by the Centre’s task force in Niti Aayog in December 2020, comprising of the secretaries of the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Women and Child Development, Higher Education, School Education, and Literacy Mission and the Ministry of Justice and Law. Subsequent amendments in existing marriage regulations like the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, and Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, are also contained in the bill.
Postponement in the age of marriage is expected to have a decisive impact on the health of women, children, and their families as well as their educational level and economic independence. The increment in the age of marriage among women has a direct impact on the reproductive and sexual health of women which can be measured through several maternal health indicators like Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR), adolescent fertility rate, nutritional status of women, and child health indicators, low birth weight, miscarriages and stillbirths. India is far from achieving these health and nutritional indicators related to women and children, issues on which the age of women at marriage matters.
The MoHFW recently released the data of the latest round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), which reveals that at the national level, the percentage of women in the 20-24 years age group who got married before age 18 years had decreased from 26.8% in NFHS-4 (2015-16) to 23.3% in NFHS-5 (2020-21). Most states have followed the same pattern but there are a few states with a high percentage of child marriages, such as Tripura (40.1%), Assam (31.8%), Manipur (16.3%), and Punjab (8.7%), where it found an increase during this period.
According to NFHS-5 data, India has achieved the replacement level fertility of 2.1 at the national level but some states still lag with a comparatively high fertility rate. The move to raise the age of marriage for women may become an important driver in reducing the high fertility rate in those states which are lagging behind so that they too achieve replacement level fertility rate.
There is a strong correlation between the marital age of women and their socioeconomic and health status post-marriage. The NFHS-5 data reveals an alarming situation of anaemia among adolescent girls aged 15-19 years. At the national level, the percentage of adolescent girls suffering from anaemia is 59.1%, up from 54.1% in NFHS-4. The situation is worst in the rural areas of the country. Further, it also varies across north-south states. The current proposal is based on the idea that a woman must be at least 21 years at her first pregnancy, giving women an opportunity to attain motherhood at a suitable age and improved health conditions. That, over time, leads to the socio-economic development of individuals, families, communities, and the country as a whole.
Furthermore, raising the age of marriage could also help reduce the drop-out rate of girl students at the school and college levels and thereby enhance enrolment of girl students in higher education. Although there are many reasons for dropping out of girl children at the school level, early marriage is the most prevalent reason. Thus, raising the legal age of marriage will provide them with the opportunity to prepare themselves for a better life and to be self-reliant economically. All of these will boost the notion of gender equity and empowerment of women for holistic development. This has clearly been brought out by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), where goal 5 (Gender Equality) deals with the above concern.
However, despite all the positive implications of the move, the likelihood of social resistance to it cannot be ignored as certain groups in society may face difficulty in accepting such a regulation. Activists also argue that improving access to education is the key to delaying child marriages since it is more of a social issue. The Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao scheme focuses on the existing challenges and mindsets and deep-rooted patriarchy in society. The move to raise the age of marriage holds out the change of educational advancement for women and thus women’s empowerment.
(Abhipsa Tripathy is a PhD Scholar at Indian Institute of Technology (ISM), Dhanbad and Prem Shankar Mishra is a PhD Scholar at the Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bengaluru)
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