Kerala, TN, Karnataka men marry late, finds survey

Men in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and women in Jammu and Kashmir marry late compared with their counterparts in other states, a survey by Census office has said.

Indian men get married at an average age of around 23 years while women tie the knot at 20 years, according to the Sample Registration System Baseline Survey conducted in 2014, by the Registrar General of India released on Tuesday.

The survey showed that Kerala men take the plunge very late at a mean age of 27.3 compared with grooms in other states. Both in rural urban areas, there is not much difference in the average age at which they tie the knot.

Tamil Nadu men follow Kerala at 25.6 while Karnataka, Assam and Odisha men marry at 25.2. However, men from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana marry a bit early at 23.4 years and 23.3 years, respectively.

When it comes to women, Jammu and Kashmir have the best figures where the mean marriage age for women is 22 years. 

Kerala (21.4, Tamil Nadu (21.2) and Punjab (21) also have impressive figures.  Karnataka women marry at 20.6 years.

There are at least 9 states whose mean marriage of girls are less than 20 years, including Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan (19.4 each) and Bihar (19.5).

Girls in rural areas in Bengal are married off at 18.8 years, the only state that has recorded a mean marriage age less than 19 years in rural areas.

0.7% women smoke, drink
When it comes to women, only 0.7% women drink or smoke while 1.8% chew tobacco.  The Sample Registration System Baseline Survey conducted in 2014 by Registrar General of India and released on Tuesday showed 11.4% of men above the age of 15 years smoke while 10% consume alcohol.

Those who chew “paan” without tobacco is 10% while those who use tobacco is 10.7%.
DH News Service