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Explained: Why raise legal age of marriage for women, or why not

What is the rationale in raising the legal age of marriage for women to 21 why are experts opposing this who will be affected by this decision.

The Cabinet’s decision to raise the legal age of marriage for women is based on the recommendation of a panel led by Jaya Jaitly.

The rationale

The task force was set up by the WCD Ministry to re-examine age of marriage and its correlation to health and social indices such as infant mortality, maternal mortality, and nutrition levels among mothers and children. Jaitly has said the recommendation is not based on the rationale of population control (India’s total fertility rate is already declining) but more with women’s empowerment and gender parity. The committee has said access to education and livelihood must be enhanced simultaneously for the law to be effective.

The opposition

Experts have been opposing a raised age of marriage on two broad counts. First, the law to prevent child marriagesdoes not work. While child marriage has declined, it has been marginal: from 27% in 2015-16 to 23% in 2019-20, according to National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 5. The decrease was, however, dramatic in NFHS 4, from 47% in NFHS 3.

The marriage age at 18 was set in 1978, but child marriage started to decline only in the 1990s, when the government stressed primary education of the girl child and took measures to reduce poverty. The experts said girls being taken out of school to be married off is a reasoning blown out of proportion; often the girl child drops out after primary school simply because she has no access to higher education, and is then married off.

The second objection being raised is the criminalisation of a large number of marriages that will take place once the law comes into effect. While 23% of marriages involve brides under age 18, far more marriages take place under age 21. The median age at first marriage for women aged 20-49 increased to 19 years in 2015-16 from 17.2 years in 2005-06, but remained under 21 years.

Who will be affected?

Experts noted that 70% of early marriages take place in deprived communities such as SCs and STs, and said the law will simply push these marriages underground instead of preventing them. According to NFHS 4 (2015-16), the median age at first marriage for women aged 25-49 is higher among the social categories of Others (19.5 years), OBC (18.5), ST (18.4) and SC (18.1).

The experts said rural women will be affected more than urban women. According to NFHS 4, the median age at first marriage (age 25-49) for urban women (19.8) is 1.7 years more than that for rural women (18.1).

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A study by the International Centre for Research on Women has found that girls out of school are 3.4 times more likely to be married or have their marriage already fixed than girls who are still in school.

According to the State of the World Report 2020 by UNFPA, in India, 51% of young women with no education and 47% of those with only a primary education had married by age 18, compared to 29% of young women with a secondary education and 4% with post-secondary education.

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Raising Legal Age of Marriage for Women: The Law, The Reasons and The Criticism

Preserved fulltext.

REVIEW article

Women’s marriage age matters for public health: a review of the broader health and social implications in south asia.

• Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom

In many traditional societies, women’s age at marriage acts simultaneously as a gateway to new family roles and the likelihood of producing offspring. However, inadequate attention has previously been given to the broader health and social implications of variability in women’s marriage age for public health. Biomedical scientists have primarily been concerned with whether the onset of reproduction occurs before the woman is adequately able to nurture her offspring and maintain her own health. Social scientists have argued that early marriage prevents women from attaining their rightful education, accessing employment and training opportunities, developing social relationships with peers, and participating in civic life. The aim of this review article is to provide comprehensive research evidence on why women’s marriage age, independent of age at first childbirth, is a crucial issue for public health. It focuses on data from four South Asian countries, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan, in which marriage is near universal and where a large proportion of women still marry below the United Nations prescribed minimum marriage age of 18 years. Using an integrative perspective, we provide a comprehensive synthesis of the physiological, bio-demographic, and socio-environmental drivers of variable marriage age. We describe the adverse health consequences to mothers and to their offspring of an early age at marriage and of childbearing, which include malnutrition and high rates of morbidity and mortality. We also highlight the complex association of marriage age, educational attainment, and low societal status of women, all of which generate major public health impact. Studies consistently find a public health dividend of increased girls’ education for maternal and child nutritional status and health outcomes. Paradoxically, recent relative increases in girls’ educational attainment across South Asia have had limited success in delaying marriage age. This evidence suggests that in order for public health initiatives to maximize the health of women and their offspring, they must first address the factors that shape the age at which women marry.

Introduction

United Nations (UN) Conventions and Resolutions consider “child, early, and forced marriage” as a fundamental violation of human rights ( 1 ). Marriage before 18 years is considered to be a harmful practice because it denies girls the right to the highest attainable standard of general, sexual, and reproductive health, and to a life free from violence ( 1 , 2 ). Under-age marriage also constrains evolving physical, emotional, and personal maturity required to safely and successfully transition to adulthood ( 3 , 4 ). It places restrictions on opportunities in life, such as the right to education. Under-age marriage also restricts women’s ability to fully participate in family, socio-cultural, and civic activities ( 3 ). Collectively, these consequences have major implications for public health.

Several UN agreements define parameters relating to marriage and reproduction, including establishing a minimum allowable marriage age. Women have equal rights to men to “freely chose a spouse and to enter into marriage only with their free and full consent” ( 1 ). Women also have the right to good reproductive and sexual health. This includes a satisfying and safe consensual sexual experience, the capability to reproduce, and the freedom to decide if, and when, to bear a child. Access to timely and adequate health care for women and their children is also essential ( 5 ). Since marriage entails adult responsibilities and also understanding of its consequences, setting a minimum age is a legal guarantee that adult responsibilities are not assigned to children prematurely ( 6 ). The age at which legal majority or adulthood is reached is thus important for establishing a minimum age of marriage: Human Rights Conventions set both at 18 years ( 3 , 7 ).

By ratifying these international agreements, governments are expected to legislate a minimum age at marriage for both sexes, ideally at 18 years. Globally, however, it ranges from 10 to 20 years, meaning legal protection is often not offered to children when the majority status of “adulthood” is reached via marriage before 18 years ( 6 ). In absolute terms, only 11 countries have established a minimum legal marriage age at 18 years without any dispensation; 73 have an ascribed minimum age but allow exceptions below 18 years, usually for girls; and 102 have unclear information or no established minimum marriage age ( 6 ).

Scale and Geographic Distribution of Women’s Under-Age Marriage

In many low- and middle-income countries, a greater proportion of females than males marry “under-age,” or below the UN legal threshold of 18 years. In 2011, an estimated 720 million women aged 18 years or older were married under-age compared with 156 million boys ( 8 ). The reasons for which the two sexes marry under-age most likely differ and merit appropriate consideration. However, in this review of public health implications, we focus on why girls marry under-age.

Between 2000 and 2011, one in three women aged 20–24 years in the global south (excluding China) were estimated to have married before they reached the age of 18 years ( 9 ). In 2010, this was equivalent to nearly 67 million women, with approximately one in nine or 12% marrying as children, before the age of 15 years ( 9 ). At the current rate, 39,000 girls are projected to marry under-age age each day, amounting to over 14.2 million girls each year over the next decade ( 9 ).

Figure 1 illustrates the global geographical distribution of women aged 20–24 years married “under-age.” The data used to produce this map was compiled by the United Nations Children’s Fund in May 2016 from national Demographic Health Surveys (DHS), Multiple-Indicator Cluster Surveys, and other nationally representative surveys conducted between 2008 and 2014 ( 10 ). The region with the highest national prevalences comprises central Africa, however, in absolute terms nearly half of all under-age marriages worldwide occur in South Asia.

Figure 1 . Global distribution of women aged 20–24 years married below the United Nations prescribed minimum age of 18 years. Data compiled from Demographic Health Surveys reports in 2016 by Ref. ( 10 ).

Weak political recognition of “under-age” marriage and its corresponding high prevalence for girls is a crucial issue for public health. While its importance is recognized across different academic fields, they approach the issue from contrasting perspectives. For example, social scientific research identifies how early marriage is associated with adverse human capital outcomes such as limited opportunities for personal and educational development. Yet the failure of education, the key intervention used to delay girls’ marriage age, is stark. Although 60% of girls in South Asia now attend secondary school, over half still marry before 18 years ( 11 ).

In contrast, demographic and public health research focus on early age at childbirth as the key event in women’s lives leading to multiple adverse maternal and child health outcomes. However, in traditional societies childbirth usually follows soon after marriage ( 12 , 13 ). Figures 2 A–D are adapted and redrawn from DHS data produced by MacQuarrie on women aged 25–49 1 years. In the four South Asian countries with the highest prevalence of under-age marriage, first childbirth occurred on average 2.5 years after marriage ( 16 ). Marriage age remains the most consistent influence on the first birth interval, even after controlling for birth cohort, gendered context 2 , spousal educational attainment, and socio-economic characteristics ( 16 ). This evidence suggests that the key decision which needs to be delayed in this population is marriage age, which will invariably lead to an older age at childbirth.

Figure 2 . Median age at first marriage and at childbirth, women aged 25–49 years in South Asia, (A) India, (B) Bangladesh, (C) Nepal, and (D) Pakistan. Adapted and redrawn with permission from Ref. [( 16 ), Figure 1A].

Aims and Methodology

The aim of this review is to provide comprehensive research evidence on why women’s marriage age, independent of age at first childbirth, is a crucial issue for public health. We go beyond what has previously been done by synthesizing key insights and inter-linkages from the demographic, health, and human capital literatures. Our novel contribution is to demonstrate that women’s under-age marriage is the “gateway” to the detrimental trans-generational consequences of early childbearing. Marriage age is also a marker of women’s human capital and overall status in society. We seek to share new knowledge on why four South Asian countries, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan, have the highest global prevalence of girls’ under-age marriage.

We searched relevant databases (e.g., PubMed and Eric) for empirical research and review articles in international peer-reviewed journals. We also conducted a broader search (using Google scholar and Google) for gray policy literature published by international development organizations, the UN and national governments on research, legislation, and secular trend data on women’s marriage age. Given the cross-disciplinary approach of our review, we focused on papers that were relevant to public health, demography, and also the social predictors and consequences of women’s marriage age. We searched for papers using the following key terms relating to girls/women: “child marriage,” “early marriage,” “adolescent marriage,” “under-age marriage,” and their inter-linkage with “adolescent pregnancy and health,” “women’s reproductive/sexual, mental health,” “violence against women,” “fertility,” “maternal and child nutritional status/mortality,” “education,” “socio-cultural norms,” “poverty/dowry/economic status,” “women’s social status,” “autonomy,” and “empowerment.” Given the breadth of literature available, our review does at times draw on studies beyond South Asia. Some of our findings are likely to apply more widely. Others might relate to the socio-cultural context of marriage.

A complexity in understanding these inter-linkages is the inconsistent disaggregation of age-categorizations across studies. We address this by adopting a dual spatio-temporal approach. Data on the previous generation of women aged 25–49 years enables us to illustrate secular changes in marriage age and childbearing, and also to emphasize the consequences and benefits conferred to variable marriage age. Data on the most recent cohort of women aged 20–24 years who married below 18 years provides critical insights on the penalties of marrying young in contemporary societies.

There are four sections to this review. Section “Marriage in South Asia” sets out the social context of marriage. It also describes changes in the prevalence of under-age marriage in the four South Asian countries of our review. Section “Consequences of Women’s Under-Age Marriage” provides an integrated perspective on the broad demographic, health, and human capital consequences of early marriage. Section “Predictors of Under-Age Marriage” provides new insights from this diverse literature on the drivers of variability in marriage age. We recognize that separating the consequences from the predictors is in part artificial because of the potential two-way direction of association. However, this approach enables us to critically assess why the high prevalence of under-age marriage persists despite increasing knowledge of its consequences. In Section “Discussion,” we discuss the opportunities and challenges flowing from these mutual fields of interest for research and practice.

Marriage in South Asia

In the geographical region of South Asia, complex cultural and religious dynamics set parameters around marriage. Generally, for both sexes, marriage is perceived as an essential stage in the life-course and there are strong social sanctions for childbearing outside of marriage ( 17 ). As a social institution, marriage is identified by some studies as near universal ( 18 ). Generally, any variation relates to the age at which marriage takes place, rather than whether it happens at all. Women also tend to marry younger than men. For example, about 90% of women aged 15–49 years were married by ages 25–29 years in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal compared with 80% of men; marriage is nearly universal among women aged 30 and above and men aged 45 and above ( 14 , 15 , 19 , 20 ).

Recent DHS data from 2011 to 2014 show that Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan have the highest prevalence of women aged 20–24 years marrying under-age (59, 27, 37, and 21, respectively) ( 14 , 15 , 20 , 21 ). This translates into tens of millions of girls in each of these countries. Further distinctions in the age at marriage are important to recognize because changes in the prevalence of “child” (<14 years of age) marriages and those taking place during “early-adolescence” (14–15 years) and “late-adolescence” (16–17 years) have differed over the past two decades in these countries. Figure 3 A uses DHS data produced by Raj et al. to show that between 1991 and 2007, the overall prevalence of marriage below 18 years in women aged 20–24 years decreased. This was largely attributed to fewer marriages below 15 years. The change in the prevalence of marriages at 16–17 years varied across the four countries. There was a marginal decrease in Pakistan and a slight increase in India. However, the proportion of girls marrying in late-adolescence increased substantially in Nepal and Bangladesh ( 22 ). Figure 3 B also uses Raj’s et al.’s data from 2005 to 2007 to show that the net effect is that under-age marriage is concentrating in a slightly older age range, but still below 18 years. These patterns are important to recognize because the predictors and consequences of marriage in these different age groups are likely to be different. Figure 3 C uses the most recent DHS data from 2011 to 2014 to show the total prevalence of girls marrying <18 years is reported to have decreased further in these countries ( 14 , 15 , 20 , 21 ). Disaggregated data by age groups were not yet available. While this trend is promising, a large proportion of women still marry soon after 18 years. These women may experience some of the consequences of those who married under-age, in late-adolescence.

Figure 3 . Prevalence of under-age marriage among women aged 20–24 years in South Asian countries. (A) Change in prevalence between 1991 and 2007, (B,C) prevalence in 2005–2007 and 2011–2014, respectively. Data for (A,B) were taken from Ref. [( 22 ), Table 2], for (C) from Ref. ( 14 , 15 , 20 , 21 ).

Despite having ratified international conventions protecting the rights of children and women generally, many South Asian countries have not ratified agreements directly addressing under-age marriage and the universally ascribed minimum age of 18 years. Table 1 uses data produced by the UN Office for the High Commissioner and the international advocacy group, Girls Not Brides , on the ratification status of these international agreements ( 23 – 25 ). Differences between international and national laws suggest that women’s marriage age is, above all, culturally defined.

Table 1 . International agreements and national law on minimum marriage age and marriage and birth registration in South Asia.

Table 1 shows that national secular legislation allows marriage at 16 years in Pakistan, 18 years in India, and 20 years in Nepal ( 26 ). However, Sharia and Mohammedan law permit marriage for girls at 14–15 years in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan ( 26 ). In Bangladesh, an international debate ensues over a new Act approved by Parliament in 2017 to allow marriage below 18 years in “special cases,” ostensibly omitting obligation to a minimum allowable marriage age for girls ( 29 ). Weak national marriage and birth registration systems mean that even the current high prevalence of under-age marriage and rates of adolescent fertility are likely to be under-estimated ( 14 , 15 , 20 , 21 , 26 ).

Consequences of Women’s Under-Age Marriage

Demographic consequences.

This section focuses on the association between under-age marriage and demographic outcomes of fertility and population growth and its related implications for sex-selective abortion and contraception. Implications for maternal and child mortality are addressed in the following section on health consequences. The mechanisms through which these effects operate relate partly to exposure and opportunities for getting pregnant, partly through generation length, and partly through biological, behavioral, and socio-economic factors. Simulations from ecological analyses of 97 countries suggest that a 10% increase in girl child marriage would be associated with a 3% increase in the infant mortality rate, a 0.3% increase in the total fertility rate, a 70% increase in the maternal mortality ratio, and a 10% decrease in skilled birth attendance ( 30 ). The magnitude of this problem is large in the South Asia region, as demonstrated below.

In South Asia, unlike many other parts of the world, marriage is still the main context for sexual intercourse. Getting married therefore signals the start of exposure to the chance of becoming pregnant and the earlier a woman gets married, the longer she will spend exposed during her fertile years. Studies find that in the absence of modern contraception, the age at which women marry is the main determinant of the number of children each woman will have ( 31 ). Marriage age also plays a very important role in lowering fertility levels from the biological maximum. The availability of reliable contraception offers the chance to thwart this relationship by stopping at a particular desired number of children or by increasing the spacing between births. However, simulations have shown that women who marry young still have more children at the end of their reproductive careers because there is more time for them to increase their desired numbers of births and more opportunity for contraceptive failure to increase fertility ( 32 ).

Empirical studies find that despite some teenage sub-fecundity, early marriage is associated with higher completed fertility at the end of the childbearing years. 3 Figure 4 shows Bangladesh Fertility Survey and DHS data produced by Kabir et al. which demonstrate that in each of three successive surveys in late 20th century Bangladesh, the younger a woman had married the more children she had produced by the age of 30 years ( 34 ). The reference value in the figure is women aged 20–34 years. Nahar et al.’s study confirms the persistence of this trend: among women aged 50 years in the 2007 DHS survey of Bangladesh, those who had married at 19 years or over had on average 2.62 children compared with 3.55 among those who had married between 17 and 18 years, and 4.59, 5.53, and 6.36 among those who had married at 15–16, 13–14, and 12 years and under, respectively ( 35 ). Similarly, Adhikari demonstrated that among women aged 40–49 years in the 2006 Nepal DHS, those who had married at 16 years or older had on average 4.7 children compared with 5.3 among those who married before 16 years ( 27 ).

Figure 4 . Number of children born to women age 30+ years, Bangladesh 1989–1997. Data taken from Ref. ( 34 ).

So far, we have discussed the association of age at marriage on the number of children born to each woman. However, age at marriage can have a strong effect on a country’s fertility rate even if there are no differences in completed fertility by age at marriage. This is because younger marriage means younger childbearing, and younger childbearing means reduced generation length and more women able to have children at any one time. This increases the crude birth rate which has a positive impact on population growth. Coale and Tye calculated the impact of shifting the age patterns of childbearing from those existing in India in 1956, where fertility was highest in the 20–24 year old age group, to those experienced by the Singapore Chinese population, where fertility was highest in the 25–29 year old age group. Over the course of 10 years this would lower the crude birth rate by 8% without any change in the mean number of children born per woman, simply by increasing the mean generation length by 2.7 years ( 36 ).

Childbearing and Access to Contraception

Comparisons of completed fertility are informative, but because they relate to women who married several decades ago, they may already represent a picture that is out of date. Other studies therefore compare the speed of childbearing among younger women. Raj et al.’s study of 20–24 year old women in India ( 37 ) and Nasrullah et al.’s of 20–24 year old women in Pakistan ( 38 ) demonstrated shorter birth intervals (i.e., more rapid childbearing) among women who had married before age 18 years than among later marriers, although this is not universally found. Godha et al.’s comparative study of the four South Asian countries considered here did not support a higher pace of childbearing among early marriers ( 39 ). A faster pace of childbearing could be the consequence of higher desired fertility among women who marry young, or among their husbands. Additional plausible explanations for faster childbearing include poorer contraceptive knowledge, access to other birth control methods and less control over family planning decisions. These explanations are supported by Figure 5 which uses DHS data produced by Godha et al. to show that women who married early had more unplanned pregnancies and more terminations of pregnancy, which are firmer indicators of poor contraceptive knowledge, access, and control ( 39 ). The survey data come from the following countries and years: India (2005–2006), Bangladesh (2007), Nepal (2006), and Pakistan (2006–2007). Nasrullah et al.’s study revealed that these differences remained even after controlling for husbands’ fertility desires and son preference ( 38 ). Similar results were obtained in a further study of Bangladesh, although this study is not strictly comparable as it used a wider age range of women ( 40 ).

Figure 5 . Percentage of women aged 20–24 years experiencing indicators of poor birth control (pregnancy termination and unintended pregnancy), by age of marriage in South Asia. Demographic Health Surveys data used from following surveys: India (2005–2006), Bangladesh (2007), Nepal (2006), and Pakistan (2006–2007). Data taken from Ref. [( 39 ), Table 2].

Women in India and Pakistan who marry early are therefore likely to have poorer access to and control over contraception, to have children quicker, and to have more unplanned (or unwanted) children. Child brides from India are also four times more likely than later marriers to have been sterilized by the age of 20–24 years ( 37 ). The higher likelihood of termination among early marriers may also be linked to strong son preference and sex selection ( 37 , 38 , 40 , 41 ). While these are effective ways of preventing further unplanned pregnancies, they have also been linked to lower female autonomy. Reduced condom use also puts women’s sexual health at risk by increasing the chance of contracting sexually transmitted infections ( 42 ).

The following section relates to the health implications of some of these demographic outcomes for maternal and child health, nutritional status, and survival.

Maternal Outcomes

Access to healthcare and pregnancy- and childbirth-related morbidity.

Much of the public health research focuses on an early age at childbearing, the adverse health outcomes from which are partly attributed to young married women having lower access to contraception, ante-natal care, and delivery by skilled health care workers or in health care facilities ( 39 ). In the South Asian context, early childbearing is strongly linked to early marriage. Using DHS data produced by Godha et al., Figure 6 shows that early marriage is strongly associated with a lower likelihood of accessing adequate ante-natal and delivery care ( 39 , 43 ). The survey data come from the following countries and years: India (2005–2006), Bangladesh (2007), Nepal (2006), and Pakistan (2006–2007).

Figure 6 . Percentage of women aged 20–24 years accessing adequate ante-natal and delivery services, by age of marriage in South Asia. Demographic Health Surveys data used from following surveys: India (2005–2006), Bangladesh (2007), Nepal (2006), and Pakistan (2006–2007). Data taken from Ref. [( 39 ), (Table 2)].

Early childbearing is associated with high maternal morbidity during pregnancy and labor. An analysis of 312,297 deliveries across 29 countries (including India and Nepal) participating in the WHO Multi-country Survey on Maternal and Newborn Health found that compared with mothers aged 20–24 years, adolescent mothers under 16 years of age had higher risks of cesarean section delivery, eclampsia (seizures which can lead to coma, cerebral hemorrhage, and cardiac arrest), puerperal endometritis (uterine infection), and systemic infections ( 44 ). The magnitude of the risk was generally higher for the youngest mothers, aged 15 years or less. Early sexual initiation and childbirth are also associated with a higher risk of developing fistula (involuntary urinary incontinence and/or leakage of feces), a debilitating condition which often leads to social exclusion ( 45 , 46 ). Comprehensive data on the magnitude of this problem are lacking in South Asia, although one study of >5,000 women in Pakistan estimates vesico-vaginal fistula affects 3.9 per 1,000 women and 4.5 per 1,000 parous women ( 47 ).

Nutritional Status

Younger mothers are also more likely to be undernourished. In India, a third of adolescent girls marrying and giving birth <18 years were categorized as “thin” [body mass index (BMI) of <18.5] and 58% had severe to mild anemia. Overall, girls married under-age were twice as likely to be undernourished as those married at age 25 years or above ( 48 ). This high rate of malnutrition among young mothers is a critical public health concern because adolescence is a period of nutritional vulnerability due to rapid growth and development. In healthy individuals, an estimated 50% of adult weight and more than 15% of adult height is gained between the years of 10–19 years ( 49 ). By beginning their reproductive careers during this critical period of physical growth, before biological maturity, undernourished adolescents are likely to attain a shorter adult stature than expected, and hence an increased risk of health complications ( 50 , 51 ). In Bangladesh, a study comparing 700 pregnant and non-pregnant adolescents found that pregnancy and lactation curtailed linear growth and resulted in weight loss and depletion of fat and lean body mass of young girls ( 52 ). Pregnancy and lactation are also likely to increase the nutritional vulnerability of adolescent girls by depleting fat stores and micronutrients ( 52 ).

Many of these pregnancy- and childbirth-related morbidities carry a risk of death. Many older studies have found a higher maternal mortality ratio (defined as deaths to mothers during pregnancy, childbirth or in the 42 days following delivery from pregnancy or childbirth-related causes, per 1,000 births) in mothers under the age of 20 years ( 53 ). However, recent studies show that this is not as high as previously thought. There is a relatively small excess adolescent risk, with the lowest risk among 20–24 year old mothers, and then sharply increased risks corresponding to greater maternal age ( 54 , 55 ). Among adolescents, the risks are higher for younger women, particularly those under age 16 years ( 44 , 56 ). Young mothers are particularly vulnerable to pregnancy-related morbidity such as death from eclampsia ( 57 ).

There are a number of reasons why young wives and mothers might be at higher risk of maternal morbidity and mortality: physiological factors, bio-demographic factors, and socio-environmental factors. Physiological factors include biological immaturity in women which could account for conditions such as cephalo-pelvic disproportion. Bio-demographic factors include parity (how many pregnancies the mother has previously had) which is important because young mothers are more likely to be nulliparous (having their first baby). First pregnancies are also at higher risk than second and third, particularly from eclampsia. Socio-environmental or behavioral factors include wealth, education, access to ante-natal care, contraception, health facilities, and so on.

It is difficult to disentangle these influences, but the fact that in some (but not all) analyses the excess mortality for adolescent wives and mothers disappears when bio-demographic and socio-environmental factors are controlled suggests that the main drivers of excess mortality among young mothers may fall into these categories ( 44 , 56 , 58 ). The fact that adolescent mothers are less likely to be educated, wealthy, urban dwellers means that they are less likely to access the ante-natal care which can help them negotiate a safe path through pregnancy and childbirth.

Child Outcomes

Health outcomes.

The health consequences of maternal under-age marriage also extend to their children. Poor maternal nutritional status is in turn associated with a poor start in life for children who are more likely to experience other social and health penalties ( 59 , 60 ). An analysis of over 19,000 mother–child dyads from the Consortium for Health Orientated Research in Transitioning Societies study in Brazil, Guatemala, India, the Philippines, and South Africa found that in comparison with mothers aged 20–24 years, younger maternal age at first birth (≤19 years) had a 20–30% increased risk of low-birth-weight (LBW) and pre-term birth, a 30–40% increased risk of stunting (low height-for-age) of children at 2 years, and failure of children to complete secondary schooling ( 61 ). The risk of offspring morbidity also increases since younger mothers produce lower volumes of breast-milk and colostrum, which contains antibodies critical for building infant immunity ( 62 , 63 ).

In India, at first glance, studies find an inconsistent association of maternal marriage age with childhood stunting and underweight. One study found children born to women who married under-age were 20% more likely to be stunted and underweight than those born to older mothers, even after controlling for demographic characteristics and maternal nutritional status ( 61 ). In contrast, another study showed maternal marriage age was only weakly associated with children’s stunting and underweight (low weight-for-age) ( 64 ). However, this study also identified five strong predictors of childhood under-nutrition, which are in themselves associated with maternal under-age marriage. These include short maternal stature, lack of maternal education, low household wealth, poor dietary diversity, and maternal underweight. Hence, children of mothers who experience early childbirth are likely to be at a higher risk of under-nutrition in early life, which is also associated with poorer brain, cognitive and emotional development, and capabilities ( 65 ). These factors have enduring physical and mental health and human capital consequences in adulthood.

These vulnerabilities also result in higher risks of mortality among the children of younger mothers. According to WFS and DHS data for 18 countries from 1997 to 1987 produced by Hobcraft, compared with the children of mothers aged 20–34 years, children who were born when their mothers were under 18 years of age were 50% more likely to have died before the age of 5 years (Figure 7 ) ( 66 ). Although these are not recent data, the fact that the child mortality rate among women aged 20–34 years declined from 127 to 89 between the two survey years with no reduction in the age pattern suggests that the pattern is unlikely to have changed much despite further declines in child mortality ( 66 ).

Figure 7 . Relative risk of a child dying before age 5, according to mother’s age at its birth. Data taken from Ref. [( 66 ), (Table 2)].

As with maternal outcomes, higher risks among the children of younger women can depend on bio-demographic, socio-environmental, and physiological factors. As well as being more risky for the mother, first births are also more dangerous for the child. Some analyses have attributed most of the association between young maternal age and infant mortality to the high proportion of first births and shorter birth intervals which often accompany young motherhood ( 67 ). The social disadvantage of young mothers may also contribute to higher risks of death among their children ( 67 ). Higher infant mortality among young mothers may be also mediated by physiological factors such as feto-maternal competition for nutrients which can lead to pre-term and LBW infants, who have an elevated risk of infant death ( 44 , 58 ). Studies which look separately at first births demonstrate a clear mortality penalty for young mothers, showing that the disadvantage cannot be completely attributed to first births and short birth intervals. For example, Hobcraft showed that the risk of death before the age of 5 years for children born to women under the age of 20 years in 18 low- and middle-income countries was around 50% higher than to those born to older women among first births, and also among both well-spaced births and poorly spaced births ( 66 ). Finlay et al. find that a mortality penalty remains for the first born children of mothers under 18 years of age in comparison with the first born children of older mothers in 55 low and middle-income countries even when controlling for socio-economic status ( 68 ).

Similarly, Raj et al. observe a continued infant penalty for motherhood before 18 years in India, Pakistan, and Nepal even when parity, birth intervals, and socio-economic status were controlled ( 69 ). This study estimated that motherhood before age 18 years contributed to 11, 12, and 16% of infant mortality in these countries, respectively. Several studies find that the higher risk of dying around birth or in the month after birth, for the children of young mothers compared with those of older mothers, is almost entirely accounted for by the biological mediators of LBW and pre-term birth, but that the continued higher risks of dying later remain even when available biological, demographic, and socio-economic factors are controlled ( 70 , 71 ). This suggests that the child-care practices of young mothers might be affected through routes difficult to capture in the sort of surveys frequently used; routes which might include female autonomy and decision-making.

The findings reported here have related to the age of the mother at the time of the child’s birth. Although related to age at marriage, it is not always the same thing as women who married young will also have had children at older ages. Few studies examine the effect of early marriage on infant and child mortality while also controlling for age at birth. One study which did control for these factors finds that age at birth and other socio-economic factors partly explain the effect of early marriage on mortality before the age of 5 years and on LBW ( 72 ). Therefore, effects of age at marriage on infant mortality could operate partly through age at birth ( via physiological effects on LBW and prematurity) and partly through socio-economic and female empowerment routes. Below, we discuss these social factors in detail and how they shape different pathways to women’s marriage age. Both are crucial for public health.

Social Consequences

In contrast to the emphasis of public health and demographic research on age at childbearing, social scientific research focuses principally on the social significance of women’s age at marriage. The following section reviews key themes arising from this literature. Generally, studies find that women who marry earlier are less likely to have opportunities to develop a general sense of overall well-being. This is in part related to lower participation in education, fewer opportunities for employment and training, development of social networks, and broader civic engagement. Together, these outcomes contribute to women’s low status in households and broader society. The key implication for public health is that these outcomes are likely to be associated with poor knowledge of the factors increasing maternal and child poor health, under-nutrition, and mortality. Women who marry at an earlier age are also more likely to have less knowledge about and lower access to contraception, and hence weak control over their fertility and less health care from a trained provider.

According to UN statements, under-age marriage constrains overall well-being by denying girls their childhood ( 1 , 3 ). However, marriage not only accelerates the transition to “womanhood,” it also reduces opportunities for personal, emotional, and psychosocial development during the critical middle phase of adolescence ( 73 ). During adolescence one’s identity, selfhood, and sense of place in society are developed, often in relation to the broader culture and customs ( 74 ). Critical knowledge about reproductive and sexual health is also gained during these years, either through school or peer groups ( 75 ). Lack of this knowledge, and the implications this psychosocial development has for autonomy, empowerment, and agency, is likely to be associated with adverse health outcomes, for both young mothers and their children.

In patriarchal societies, such as in South Asia, these transitions are not strictly defined by age. They reflect the social roles expected of girls, and also the timing of sexual and physiological development. These factors may also function as a “social signal” for the readiness for marriage ( 76 ). For girls, social roles are likely to be restricted to the domestic sphere, to being a daughter, wife, home-maker, and mother ( 42 ). For young mothers, the fulfillment of these diverse domestic roles often implies physical and social isolation from the maternal household, peers, and wider society, which may have knock-on effects on their mental health (e.g., susceptibility to depression), nutritional status, and their own and their children’s health outcomes ( 42 ).

Education plays a crucial role in women’s lifecycle by shaping the timing of key events. In South Asian societies where there is usually a “choice” between education and other life opportunities, getting married generally means leaving school ( 1 ). Estimates using the Matlab Health and Socio-economic Survey of >2,000 women aged 25–44 years in Bangladesh confirm this, showing that each additional year of delay in the age of marriage would increase schooling by 0.22 year ( 77 ). Figure 8 uses DHS data produced by MacQuarrie from the most recent surveys: India (2005–2006), Bangladesh (2014), Nepal (2011), and Pakistan (2012–2013). It shows that for women aged 25–49 years, the median age at marriage increases with the level of education completed across South Asia ( 16 ). Since childbearing usually follows marriage in these societies, it too is inversely related to education level ( 16 ).

Figure 8 . Median age at first marriage by level of education of women aged 25–49 years in South Asia. Drawn with permission using data from Ref. [( 16 ), (Table 7)].

Studies consistently find that women with lower levels of education are also more likely to experience multiple vulnerabilities. Figure 9 uses data on women aged 15–49 years from the recent 2011 DHS report from Nepal ( 15 ). It shows that in comparison with women with greater levels of education, women with lower educational attainment are more likely to have poor nutritional status (BMI < 18 kg/m 2 ) and lower access to ante-natal services. These less educated women are also less likely to participate in household decision-making (regarding own health care, purchases, and visiting relatives) and to have experienced violence. There are similar implications of lower maternal education for children’s malnutrition and survival. For example, in Nepal the mortality rate for children under 5 years of age born to women with no education was more than double that of children born to mothers with secondary or higher education: 73 deaths per 1,000 live births compared with 32 deaths per 1,000 live births ( 15 ). Similar associations are apparent in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan ( 14 , 20 , 78 ).

Figure 9 . Maternal outcomes by education level for women aged 15–49 years in Nepal, 2011. Data taken from Ref. ( 15 ).

There are also trans-generational penalties of less education. In the context of public health, education is best understood as a key component of maternal phenotype or “capital,” the physiological niche to which each child is exposed to during the start of life ( 79 , 80 ). Hence, if less education is a “consequence” of maternal under-age marriage, then this cycle of disadvantage may be perpetuated through lower schooling and under-age marriage of daughters, who are likely to experience similar health consequences as their mothers, and pass them onto the next generation ( 81 ). Studies suggest there may be a “threshold” effect of education, although the minimum level of schooling required to achieve improved trans-generational outcomes differs across countries ( 69 , 82 ). For example, Bates et al. find that in Bangladesh, 5 or more years of maternal education was associated with substantial delays in daughters’ age at marriage ( 81 ). Studies have found similar associations between maternal education and daughter’s marriage age in Nepal and Pakistan ( 83 , 84 ).

Education, and by association the level of schooling completed, are crucial for public health because they are perceived to provide the knowledge, confidence, and agency required to make informed decisions related to maternal and child health, nutritional status, and survival ( 85 ). Greater levels of maternal education and literacy are expected to improve the ability of mothers to access and demand appropriate services in support of better growth and development of their children ( 86 , 87 ). For example, mothers who participated in women’s groups across South Asia not only improved their literacy, but were also able to use information on maternal and child nutrition and healthcare to decrease the proportion of children born with LBW ( 88 , 89 ). Education is also considered to facilitate greater autonomy to negotiate new and less gendered roles in society, age at marriage, and childbearing ( 13 ). Maternal ability to adopt behaviors that children need, including early stimulation, is also expected to be enhanced with greater years of schooling ( 90 ). Presumably, greater paternal educational attainment may lead to similar positive outcomes. However, data to compare the independent associations of parental education with daughter’s age at marriage are not routinely collected in studies.

Empowerment and Autonomy

Together, lack of education and under-age marriage contribute to lower empowerment for women at the individual level throughout the life-course ( 91 ). Husbands and mothers-in-law may exert greater control over younger women, who, being less educated, may be less able to assert themselves ( 92 ). Das Gupta terms this subordinated position of young mothers, especially in joint families, as “double powerlessness” ( 93 ). Being female and of a younger age limits their ability to exercise autonomy during their childbearing years. For example, young mothers’ lack of control over their own fertility increases the risk of numerous negative maternal reproductive health and child-survival outcomes ( 94 ).

Domestic violence is another aspect of low empowerment related in part to young women’s lower ability to resist and refute. Compared with women who married after 18 years, those married under-age are more likely to experience physical or sexual violence ( 95 ). For example, interviews with 8,314 young women aged 20–24 years across five Indian states with the highest prevalence of under-age marriage 4 found women married after 18 years of age were 1.24 times less likely than women married under-age to accept physical violence, and approximately 0.6 times less likely to have experienced marital physical or sexual violence ( 96 ). Another analysis of DHS data on women aged 25–49 years from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan over the past two decades also finds that women who married at a younger age were more likely to experience violence than those who married at an older age ( 16 ).

There is likely to be a two-way association between early marriage and poor mental health, and together, these factors have knock-on effects on a range of adverse maternal and child outcomes ( 97 ). Broadly, research finds that adolescence is a crucial developmental stage, with 50% of mental disorders presenting by the age of 14 years ( 98 ). Girls who marry during adolescence are also more likely to be experiencing the physical and emotional effects of pubertal change, which have their own implications for mental health ( 99 ). Early marriage and childbearing, along with gynecological morbidity related in part to pregnancy-related factors are likely to further stress mental well-being ( 100 ). This overall “gendered disadvantage” in social roles and status experienced by women has been associated with common mental issues such as depression, stress, and other neurotic disorders ( 97 , 101 ). For example, a cross-sectional survey from 2001 to 2003 of 3,000 women aged 18–45 years in Goa, India found indicators of gender disadvantage such as an early age at marriage and childbearing, low levels of decision-making autonomy, family support, and sexual violence by husbands increased the prevalence of mixed-anxiety depressive disorder ( 102 ). Another qualitative sub-study of the rural Pune Maternal Nutrition Study conducted 12 separate focus group discussions with young mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers in 1998 ( 103 ). It found that young mothers had poor nutritional status and experienced anxiety and depression because their minimal influence over the allocation of resources restricted access to health services, and social isolation prevented them from caring for their children’s health and education. Studies also find that violence experienced in marital homes is related to mental ill-health, including women practicing self-immolation ( 104 ).

Low Social Status

Age at marriage is likely to shape women’s empowerment and agency within households and their status in the broader community. Studies find that the younger a women marries, the more likely she is to have lower status in each of these hierarchies ( 105 ). Smith et al. ( 106 ) estimated that if women had equal social status to men in households and communities, the prevalence of underweight children under 3 years in South Asia would decrease by 13.4 million (13%).

At the broader level of society, gender norms and practices also shape the social institutions that structure daily life, including health care and education. Studies have found that women’s lower social status relative to men, as measured by the gender inequality index (GII) 5 , has adverse associations with infant and child mortality and malnutrition ( 108 , 109 ). The four South Asian countries included in this review rank low on the GII. In 2015, out of 188 countries, they ranked 119 (Bangladesh), 125 (India), 115 (Nepal), and 130 (Pakistan) ( 107 ). They also had high rates of child mortality and malnutrition ( 110 , 111 ). Figures 10 A–D show data produced by Marphatia et al. in 2016 on the associations of GII with LBW, child malnutrition, and mortality across 96 countries ( 109 ). This study found societal gender inequality explained 36% of the variance in LBW. The GII was also more predictive of LBW than national wealth, measured by per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Independent of GDP, GII also explained 10% of the variance in wasting (low weight-for-height) and stunting, and 41% of the variance in child mortality.

Figure 10 . Associations of the gender inequality index with (A) low-birth-weight, child (B) stunting, (C) wasting, and (D) mortality across 96 countries. Graph reproduced from Ref. [( 109 ), Figure 1].

Simulations suggest that reducing societal gender inequality would benefit child outcomes most strongly in the poorest countries. Shifting from the 90th to 50th GII centile in a poor country (10th centile of GDP) would decrease the prevalence of LBW by 4%, stunting by 10%, and childhood mortality by 54% ( 109 ). To achieve similar gains through economic growth alone, these low-income countries would effectively need to become middle-income, shifting to the 50th centile of GDP.

The social consequences of under-age marriage are likely to accumulate over time, reducing the very maternal phenotypic components that are key to maternal and child development and health outcomes. Next, we review whether certain factors predispose girls to marrying early. We consider why the practice of under-age marriage continues despite growing evidence of its trans-generational consequences.

Predictors of Under-Age Marriage

In the previous section, we have noted that some of the negative outcomes for under-age brides and their children might operate through relative socio-cultural disadvantage. In the following section, we discuss the ways in which these factors can lead to under-age marriage in the first place.

Socio-Cultural Factors

Each of the four South Asian countries included in this review has complex cultural dynamics that might underlie overt preferences for women’s under-age marriage. We highlight key themes from diverse literature on women’s marriage age rather than providing a detailed account of each country’s social context. However, we do use country-specific examples to illustrate key points.

Studies across different disciplines refer to the “socio-cultural norms, customs, and beliefs” shaping decisions relating to marriage age. Studies often use a “cost-benefit” framework to explain the “trade-offs” or penalties for marrying daughters at a particular age. However, Bicchieri et al. point out that many studies do not clearly define the term “social norms,” suggesting instead that “moral rules” better describe how behavior relating to marriage age is governed in societies ( 112 ). These codes of conduct and beliefs over credible life options lead people to conform to normative social preferences relating to the age at which girls should marry.

Here, the anthropological literature is helpful in further explaining the significance of the normative beliefs underpinning the practice of early marriage. Kneller defines “culture” as custom, and “societies” as people practicing the customs ( 74 ). Both of these aspects play critical roles in the forming of personality because culture is largely internalized and modified by individuals depending on the agency available to them ( 74 ). In his seminal anthropological study, Marcel Mauss argues that the person cannot be detached from their broader social structures, hierarchies (socio-economic and gender), and caste/class systems ( 113 ). The point, as Vaitla et al. also argue in their 2017 review paper, is that norms and behaviors relating to expected (unequal) social roles and status are deeply rooted in local culture, which in part also shapes individual identity ( 114 ). For example, a study conducted in 1990 of 13,200 daughter–mother dyads across 14 6 Indian states found the sense of “self” was is in part shaped through interactions with various familial, socio-economic, and ecological factors ( 115 ). This collective formation of individuals may serve to maintain, rather than challenge, prescribed gender norms.

Within this context of South Asia’s collective societies, people, and their actions are perceived to be socially embedded. Here, studies suggest that as long as families (as opposed to the welfare state) are the main providers of social protection for women, social norms are likely to continue to influence the age at which women marry ( 116 , 117 ). Broadly speaking, the role and primary identity of a woman in such social contexts are defined by her purpose in life as a “wife, daughter-in-law, and mother.” Hence, the principal “option” in life for women may be marriage. Social norms will thus continue to shape the age at which this is likely to occur and will also influence other opportunities in life such as education.

Historical records suggest that girls’ under-age marriage is not a new phenomenon in contemporary South Asian society. For example, in India, the practice of child marriage, or Kanya Dan (gift of a daughter, in Sanskrit), and the social importance and familial pride and prestige attributed to it, is believed to originate in Hindu religious texts (Dharmasutras and Smiritis) in 600 AD. These scriptures warned of the social and religious consequences for parents who failed to marry their daughters soon after menarche [Kapadia DM 1966 cited in Ref. ( 19 )]. The custom of under-age marriage may also originate from socio-cultural practices with patrilineal households desiring to assimilate women from other families into their households [Karve I 1965 cited in Ref. ( 19 )]. An early age at marriage may ensure a bride’s loyalty to her husband’s family. In turn, she would be bound by these very ties. Her low level of education, autonomy, and empowerment may also contribute to shaping her behavior in her marital home. A broader spousal age-gap would also facilitate this “character molding” of younger brides, who are likely to be more responsive to these practices ( 92 ).

Whether the practice of under-age marriage in South Asian societies overtly relates to these historical religious dictats is not always clear. However, there is evidence that marrying “early” may be perceived to have benefits whereas marrying “too late” may have social consequences for not only girls but also their families. Several studies provide support for what Maertens terms as the social “institution of early marriage” (p. 1) ( 118 ). Caldwell et al.’s 1980 study of 5,000 women in rural Karnataka, India found that although there was a slow shift away from very young child marriages, parents still married their daughters before 18 years because socially this cleared the way to find a bride for their son ( 17 ). Maertens, in her 2007–2008 study of over 1,800 individuals in three villages across Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh states in India finds that failing to adhere to the perceived “ideal” age of marriage (<18 years) in the wider community may lead to criticism and social exclusion which eventually impacts the marriageability of other children, especially girls, in the household ( 118 ).

Studies also find that menarche and signs of physical development precipitate under-age marriage because of parental perception of “readiness for marriage” ( 9 , 76 ). This perception may be related to the expected virginity of prospective brides, which continues to be considered a hallmark of respectability across religions. It is the definition of a “good woman” and hence a necessity for marriage. Virginity may thus be perceived to be in greater “jeopardy” after menarche when the onset of sexual maturity is considered to incite unwanted male attention, risking promiscuity, and sexual violence ( 76 , 119 ). Under these circumstances, families may face losing their “honor” and girls may be considered unmarriageable, thereby imposing further, long-term burdens on households to provide care for their daughters. As explained in the previous section, the key concern for public health is that girls who marry young may not be physiologically ready for early pregnancy and childbirth.

Collectively, these studies suggest that the agency that is used to support the practice of under-age marriage can be understood as the “socially significant quality of action” ( 120 ). Delaying women’s marriage age will invariably require changing the norms underpinning the practice of early marriage and also the low status accorded to women in society. Here, Del Franco’s study in rural Southwest Bangladesh finds that tertiary education accords girls the self-confidence to negotiate a delay in the age at which they marry ( 121 ). She argues that we need “…a more nuanced meaning of social embeddedness…to acknowledge that girls are not just passive enactors of other people’s interests and desires” (p. 161) ( 121 ). While this suggests a shift in social norms, there may be a selection bias in the sample; the girls who attend university are more likely to come from families who are more supportive of education and delaying women’s marriage age.

These aspects of agency and socio-cultural mores are difficult to measure and compare across women, communities, or countries. Nevertheless, in quantitative studies, culture is reflected in several variables. These include religion, ethnicity, caste, and socio-economic status, all of which may shape social beliefs and behaviors around education, marriage age, fertility, autonomy, etc. ( 115 ). Table 1 shows that religion partly shape national law relating to minimum marriage age. However, inferring that any one faith is related to the persistent practice of under-age marriage is difficult because girls appear to be married under-age in all religions. A review of 111 countries found that the prevalence of under-age marriage varied greatly, with no discernable pattern by the countries’ predominant religions ( 122 ). This is not to say religion is not a predictor of under-age marriage, but rather that it is often tightly interwoven with broader gendered socio-cultural norms, attitudes, and practices.

Economic Factors

The economic wealth of families, which is often related to socio-cultural status, is a common factor cited in the literature on the predictors of under-age marriage. A recent review of 54 DHS surveys found that girls living in poor households were twice as likely to marry before the age of 18 years when compared with girls in wealthier households ( 123 ). MacQuarrie’s analysis of recent DHS data on women aged 25–49 years from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan also finds that women’s age at marriage increases in line with household wealth ( 16 ). The United Nation’s Population Fund’s 2012 analysis found a similar trend in the contemporary younger cohort of women aged 20–24 years. The proportion of women marrying under-age decreased as household wealth increased ( 9 ). Figure 11 shows the prevalence of under-age marriage by wealth quintiles in South Asia ( 9 ). The poorest quintile describes the percentage of women aged 20–24 years from the poorest 20% of households, who were married or in union before their 18th birthday.

Figure 11 . Percentage of women aged 20–24 years married under-age by household wealth in South Asia. Data taken from Ref. ( 9 ).

Why are households of low-economic status more likely to marry girls at an earlier age? Studies suggest that in resource-constrained households, girls may represent a liability for the limited economic budget and food security for the entire household; the sooner these responsibilities are passed onto the husband’s family the better ( 19 ). Douglas ( 124 ) explains that in patrilineal societies where family lineage and livelihood depends on sons, more resources are amassed for their development and educational/social advancement. To achieve this, less money is spent on daughters’ education, healthcare, and eventual marriage and dowry ( 118 ). However, in South Asian societies, the wealth-marriage age association is complex. Even girls from middle-income families may be “moved on to” their marital homes as early as possible. This is because dowry, which is paid by the woman’s family, increases with the prospective bride’s age, and education level ( 125 ). Since the practice of dowry has been illegal since 1961, official data on payment amounts are generally not collected. However, the 2011–2012 Indian Human Development Survey of 42,000 households estimated that the average Indian family gave 30,000 Rupees (approximately $491) in cash for dowry; about 40% also gave televisions and cars ( 126 ).

Rural Residence

There is geographic heterogeneity in the prevalence of under-age marriage across and within countries. Compared with women in urban areas, those residing in rural areas are generally more likely to come from poorer households, to be married under-age, and to have lower educational attainment. An analysis of 36 Sub-Saharan and South West Asian countries found that women from rural communities who had married early had the greatest deficits in schooling ( 127 ). Figure 12 uses data from the recent 2016 National Family Health Survey in India to illustrate that the prevalence of under-age marriage in India is higher in rural than urban areas, especially where the rate of girls schooling has historically been the lowest ( 128 ). A similar pattern is found in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan. Girls residing in rural areas in these three countries also have a higher risk of marrying under-age than their urban peers ( 9 , 129 ).

Figure 12 . Prevalence of under-age marriage and school completion rates by rural and urban residence, India 2016. Data taken from Ref. ( 128 ).

Overall, the different predictors of under-age marriage that have been reviewed thus far appear to have a greater rural concentration. There is usually lower availability and access to schools in rural areas ( 130 ). This may hasten under-age marriage. Another factor may be the rural economy, which may offer fewer formal employment opportunities to women. Rural areas also tend to have a greater proportion of informal or home-based industries, where young, often uneducated brides are sought to provide labor for free ( 75 ). Family farms, upon which these young women also work, contribute to household food security with few economic costs to the household. Furthermore, in poor rural areas where infant mortality is high, young women with longer reproductive careers are particularly sought after to maximize the number of surviving offspring to satisfy household requirements for labor ( 75 ).

These factors are also embedded within the broader socio-geographical hierarchy of rural societies, which studies find are more likely to uphold traditional practices of early marriage ( 131 ). Singh et al. ( 96 ) use Indian NFHS data (2005) on 40,606 women aged 15–59 years from the eight 7 states with the highest prevalence of under-age marriage and population growth but lowest levels of social and economic growth to identify correlations between different factors. They found rural residence and education level explained 83% of the variability in marriage age. Other factors mapped onto these two predictors. Poorer, lower caste families who tended to reside in rural areas were less likely to educate their daughters and more likely to marry them under-age.

It is often assumed that although marriage and education are alternative life outcomes for adolescents, marriage largely shapes education in that girls who marry young are forced to leave school. However, there is likely to be a bi-directional association between marriage age and education. Education may also predict the age at which women marry. The role of girls’ education in shaping the timing of key life events such as age at marriage and childbearing is complex. Paradoxically, studies find both fewer and greater years of schooling are associated with under-age marriage. Below, we discuss why these different pathways shape greater susceptibility to under-age marriage.

Overall, data from 2010 to 2014 show that the net enrollment rate (NER) 8 for girls in primary school was around 94% for India, Bangladesh, and Nepal and 67% in Pakistan ( 133 ). However, the NER for secondary school was much lower, at 62% in India and Nepal, 55% in Bangladesh, and 36% in Pakistan ( 133 ).

Studies estimate that across 18 of the 20 countries with the highest prevalence of under-age marriage, girls with no education were up to six times more likely to marry as children than girls with secondary education ( 75 ). In India, each additional year of education, from primary school onward, reduced the risk of under-age marriage ( 17 , 69 ). In Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan, there appears to be a “threshold effect” with secondary education being associated with delaying marriage age during early- but not late-adolescence ( 69 ). Bongaarts et al.’s analysis using DHS data from 1996 to 2014 for 43 countries including the South Asia region found that the difference in the mean age of first sexual intercourse, marriage, and childbearing is greater between girls with secondary and primary education than the difference between girls with primary and no education ( 13 ). This study also found that the overall increase in the educational attainment of girls was accompanied by slower than expected increases in the age at which girls experienced these key life events ( 13 ).

Dropping out of school because of poor performance may also increase the probability of under-age marriage, because households may be less likely to invest limited resources in keeping girls in school ( 127 ). Of course, leaving school need not necessarily have to be associated with under-age marriage, unless socio-cultural norms imply a “choice” in life between education and marriage.

Poor performance in school may not necessarily be a marker of academic ineptitude. Studies from Bangladesh, India, and Nepal find the lack of available, accessible, acceptable, and adaptable education of good quality may function as a “push factor” for both low educational attainment and an earlier age at marriage ( 134 , 135 ). Aikman and Rao find that in school girls are often encouraged to fulfill gendered societal roles of early marriage and childbearing ( 136 ). Similarly, Jeffrey and Jeffrey’s ( 137 ) study raises important questions about the potential failure of education in transforming gendered social roles,

…How can sending girls to school for a greater number of years empower them if the structures of domination in which they are embedded remain unchanged? Does schooling really expose girls to alternatives permitting them to challenge this hegemony and realm of ideas? (p. 161)

The demands of the contemporary marriage market in South Asia suggest the emergence of a new trend. Higher levels of education are not substantially delaying girls’ marriage age. In this context, education becomes an asset for marriage ( 138 ). Research suggests that completing secondary school (age 17 years) enhances the social position of girls and also their families by improving the chances of marrying into a family of higher socio-economic status (hypergamy) ( 139 , 140 ). A higher level of education is increasingly sought after by the bridegroom’s family because it is perceived to be a sign of greater maturity and capability during the eventual reproductive years ( 84 ). Paradoxically, staying longer in school, where gendered roles are emulated by teachers and peers, may perpetuate societal norms of under-age marriage ( 136 , 137 ).

These contrasting findings suggest we need to better understand what girls can do with increased education in societies where other life opportunities, such as higher education or employment, are not yet widely acceptable or accessible to most women ( 141 ). Greater education may also not be improving women’s status at the household or societal level. For example, if the education of girls is principally valued as a social asset for obtaining a future husband, then staying in school longer may not increase agency or change the gendered ideals of marriage ( 142 , 143 ). Paradoxically, recent evaluations of cash stipend interventions to delay girls’ marriage age through increased education in Bangladesh found they were used by families to pay for marriage-related costs ( 144 , 145 ). This included higher dowries amounts associated with the higher education levels of girls. These programs did not change the lower value attributed to girls in society and their restricted domestic social roles ( 145 ).

Women’s Low Social Status

As with education, women’s subordinated status in society can be both a predictor and a consequence of under-age marriage ( 146 ). Socio-cultural practices are likely to reproduce gender unequal power relations and maintain women’s subordinated status ( 19 ). However, notions of gender inequality are complex in South Asian societies. Asymmetries of power lie not only along male–female lines but also among females of different ages, and possibly also varying levels of education ( 147 ). Young brides usually have the lowest social status in households ( 93 , 148 ). Mothers-in-law generally have more authority to put into practice decisions about health care, education, and expenditures, although the primary decision-making tends to remain with men ( 148 ). Chodorow explains that it is within this larger context of patriarchy that a microcosm of women being agents in their own subordination takes places ( 147 ). In traditional contexts such as rural Bangladesh, where gender inequality persists, Bates et al. ( 81 ) find that

…empowerment may sometimes enable women to carry out traditional strategies that reflect their fundamental social and economic insecurity in the family and in society at large [;] strategies that may undermine the health and well-being of women in the next generation. (p. 109)

We still need to better understand why female family members who may have experienced adverse consequences of their own under-age marriage may encourage reproduction of the same pathways for their own daughters and daughters-in-law. The difficulty here for researchers is that women’s status is likely to change over their life-course. It may paradoxically lead to the transition from one of subservience to husband to dominance over her own daughter-in-law. Of course, women of all ages may find the agency to resist these norms, but often only within the limited discursive spaces available to them ( 149 ).

Here, systematic reviews of interventions show that laws and communication with community members on the consequences of early marriage are a necessary but insufficient condition for delaying marriage age ( 150 ). This may be because social norms related to marriage age are changing very slowly. Delprato et al. ( 127 ) find that household decisions to marry daughters under-age reflect socio-cultural norms passed on through generations by social pressure to maintain the status quo . Their analysis of DHS data from 36 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and South West Asia finds that girls are more likely to marry under-age when the community also has high rates of past and current marriages of women below 18 years, high fertility, and low levels of pre-marital sex (an indication of the value the community attaches to girls’ virginity and reflecting safety concerns related to early marriage decisions).

At a societal level, policies which are formal institutionalized arrangements of socio-cultural norms may maintain these practices and women’s subordinated status. The widespread neglect of women’s health and nutrition in national policies not only harm women themselves, but also impose a burden on wider society by contributing to long-term, often trans-generational deficits in health and human capital ( 151 ). Since culture is also about how different parts of society are organized, including the structures that uphold them, schools play an important role in enabling the formation of societies along these norms ( 136 ). In the widest sense, education includes this very process of forming a person’s mind and character. However, many studies argue that schools often serve to reproduce, rather than challenge, existing gendered norms in societies ( 152 ).

In summary, although education and, to some extent, economic opportunities for women are more widely available, countries with deeply entrenched traditional justifications for early marriage are not likely to see an end to this practice without a shift in gendered social norms ( 153 ). The inter-relatedness of these factors is complex. Families may be caught between status attainment through idealized gender performance where modesty, segregation, and under-age marriage are praised and modernity, where greater education and later age at marriage are emphasized ( 154 ). This makes identifying the key levers of change all the more challenging.

While the importance of under-age marriage is recognized in different academic and policy fields, they also approach the problem from contrasting perspectives. The demographic and public health literatures focus largely on the disadvantages of early childbearing. Conversely, social scientists focus on the human capital consequences of under-age marriage, such as education. These different approaches miss the inherent inter-connection between these issues and the implications for public health of the broader social challenges.

Our goal in this review has been to draw on these diverse literatures to provide an integrated perspective on variability in women’s marriage age and its implications for public health (Figure 13 ) ( 129 , 155 , 156 ). Taken together, these factors are markers of women’s low status in society and are likely to have trans-generational consequences. We conclude by discussing some of the implications for research and practice for better understanding the predictors and consequences of under-age marriage in the context of public health.

Figure 13 . Schematic diagram illustrating the public health implications of women’s under-age marriage. Taken together, these physiological, bio-demographic, and socio-environmental drivers of variable marriage age are markers of women’s low social status. These factors have an adverse effect on women, mothers, and their children. They have a major impact on public health. Adapted from Ref. [( 129 ), Figure 1; ( 155 ), Figure 1; ( 156 )].

Implications for Research

A recent expert group meeting organized by the UN, charity organizations, and academics recognized the need for more research on factors beyond gendered norms, education, and poverty contributing to under-age marriage ( 157 ). Our review of the literature suggests this would require both a broader scope to research and also different methodological approaches. Research needs to focus on the predictors of variability in marriage age to identify the trade-offs of marrying at different ages. This is crucial because factors that contribute to a later marital age may not simply be the inverse of those associated with under-age marriage. Take, for example, the increased participation of girls in education, which has not yet substantially delayed their age at marriage.

Decisions about future life paths, be they education or marriage, are not likely to suddenly appear at one point in time. Such decisions about choices in life may also emerge through cumulative social and biological processes ( 158 ). For example, biomedical scientists find a “developmental origins” to adult non-communicable disease and less education ( 159 , 160 ). Whether factors acting in early life also shape variability in women’s marriage age requires further investigation. Studying these complex associations would require a multi-disciplinary life-course perspective and data on two if not three generations.

A key methodological challenge is disentangling the key drivers of variability in marriage age. Under-age marriage is a marker of several inter-related gender-specific vulnerabilities relevant to public health such as less education, poor nutritional status, and poverty, all of which are concentrated in rural areas ( 12 ). There is also a strong correlation between the individual, household, and demographic variables predicting marriage age. The potential bi-directionality and multiple pathways of these associations also renders identification of the predictor and consequence difficult ( 45 ). For example, maternal age at childbirth, which is predicted by under-age marriage, is associated with infant mortality; these associations may operate through socio-economic deprivation and biological behavioral factors such as place of delivery, gestation, and birth-weight ( 59 , 71 ). But socio-economic deprivation and biological behavioral factors may themselves predict under-age marriage.

Another key challenge is comparing and compiling evidence across studies because of their different age categorizations, time frames, and data disaggregation. Furthermore, changes in ecological, economic, and socio-cultural factors during these time periods may not provide an accurate representation of a potential change in the timing of marriage ( 131 ). Some factors may also be more important at specific time periods or have a stronger association over time, or the risk related to any type of consequence may accumulate over time. Finally, observational analyses of nationally representative surveys indicate conditional statistical correlations, but they cannot prove causality.

Implications for Practice

Policies have had some success in decreasing the rate of adolescent fertility ( 161 ) and increasing girls’ participation in education ( 130 ), both of which are relevant for public health. Estimations suggest the enforcement of even existing contrasting laws on minimum marriage age in South West Asia would increase girls’ schooling by 15% ( 127 ). However, increased education, the primary intervention used to delay girls’ marriage age, has had limited success ( 69 ). Similarly, systematic evaluations of interventions suggest efforts directly aiming to delay marriage age are more successful than those focusing on related factors such as adolescent sexual and reproductive health, partly because girls have little control over access to these services before and after marriage ( 162 , 163 ). We do however know that at an individual level, in circumstances where mothers have greater ability to make strategic life choices, and the autonomy, agency, and access to resources required to exercise these choices, children’s nutritional status and health have generally improved ( 89 , 164 ).

Our aim was to show that women’s marriage age, and its human capital predictors and consequences, matter for public health. We argue that a broad range of health and social issues, including the low status of women, are likely to be affected by addressing early marriage. Marriage is both a cultural practice, reflecting women’s status in society, and linked to multiple biological, ecological, and geographical factors, each of which is crucial for public health. Marriage is the “gateway” to the multiple health consequences associated with the timing of childbirth. It is also a predictor of human capital penalties, which have their own implications for health. The gaps identified in knowledge and the general ineffectiveness of policies and interventions help explain why the early age at which girls marry is both expected and accepted, and why it changes very slowly ( 165 ). Disentangling the broad predictors of marriage age is complex. They are inter-related, and tightly interwoven with socio-cultural norms, broader economic and geographical contexts, and trans-generational developmental processes ( 123 , 166 ).

Author Contributions

AM conceived the original idea and developed it with guidance from AR and GA. AM wrote the first draft of the article. AR wrote sections on demography, maternal, and child survival. GA produced the maps and their interpretations. All authors provided detailed feedback on the full manuscript and contributed to revisions.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

The bulk of work for this article arises from AM’s Ph.D. Thesis, which was fully funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Doctoral Training Centre, University of Cambridge.

• ^ Data were not available for all countries and all time-points for the recent cohort of women aged 20–24 because less than 50% of women began living with their spouse for the first time before reaching the beginning of the age-group ( 14 , 15 ).
• ^ The gendered context was measured by the extent to which women participated in household decision-making, accepted/experienced violence, and their spousal age gap ( 16 ).
• ^ Teenage pregnancies in places where pre-marital intercourse is common are likely to result in higher completed fertility due to a link between fecundity and the likelihood of getting pregnant in the first place, and due to the negative effect of a teenage pregnancy on education and career progression ( 33 ). This is not considered to be a major factor in South Asia where pre-marital intercourse remains rare, and it can complicate comparisons of marriage age and fertility between different parts of the world.
• ^ Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu.
• ^ The Gender Inequality Index is a composite statistic of the loss in potential human development due to disparities between female and male achievements in empowerment (secondary educational attainment and parliamentary representation), economic status (labor market participation), and women’s health (adolescent birth rate and maternal mortality ratio) ( 107 ).
• ^ Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.
• ^ Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa, Jharkhand, Uttrakhand, and Chattishgarh.
• ^ The number of pupils of official school age who are enrolled in education as a percentage of the total children of the official school age population ( 132 ).

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Keywords: women, marriage age, public health, demography, education, geography, South Asia

Citation: Marphatia AA, Ambale GS and Reid AM (2017) Women’s Marriage Age Matters for Public Health: A Review of the Broader Health and Social Implications in South Asia. Front. Public Health 5:269. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2017.00269

Received: 10 May 2017; Accepted: 19 September 2017; Published: 18 October 2017

Reviewed by:

Copyright: © 2017 Marphatia, Ambale and Reid. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Akanksha A. Marphatia, aam54@cantab.net

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Raising the legal age of marriage for women – Explained, pointwise

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• 1 Introduction
• 2 What is the current minimum age of marriage for women?
• 3 What are the reasons mentioned by the Jaya Jaitly committee to raise the legal age of marriage?
• 4 What are the benefits of raising the legal age of marriage for women?
• 5 What are the legislative challenges in raising the legal age of marriage for women?
• 6 What are the arguments against raising the legal age of marriage for women?
• 7.1 Committee recommendations
• 7.2 Other recommendations

Introduction

Recently, the Union Cabinet has passed a proposal raising the legal age of marriage for women from 18 to 21 years — the same as men. The government sees the proposed legislation as a strong measure to bring women on equal footing with men, in keeping with the vision of the Right to equality. The amendment in relation to marriageable age will be effective two years after the Bill receives the assent of the President.

The government has taken this decision based on the recommendations of the Committee headed by Jaya Jaitly. The committee has said that the recommendation is not based on the rationale of population control (India’s total fertility rate is already declining) but more on women’s empowerment and gender parity. But there are certain concerns associated with raising the legal age of marriage for women.

What is the current minimum age of marriage for women?

Socially, the age at which girls are typically expected to marry has long been influenced by their age of puberty. So, the marriageable age for women in the 19th century was around 10 years. The Sharda Act of 1929 set the minimum age of marriage for girls at 14 years and for boys at 18 years. Later, the age of marriage for women was increased from 15 to 18 in 1978 by amending the erstwhile Sharda Act of 1929 .

For Hindus, Section 5(iii) of The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 , sets a minimum age of 18 for the bride and 21 for the groom. This is the same for Christians under the Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872 .

For Muslims, the marriage of a minor who has attained puberty is considered valid. This is assumed when the bride or groom turns 15.

The  Special Marriage Act, 1954   and the  Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006  also prescribe 18 and 21 years as the minimum age of consent for marriage for women and men, respectively.

Under the Child Marriage Prevention Act , any marriage below the prescribed age is illegal and the perpetrators of forced child marriage can be punished.

For the new age of marriage to be implemented, these laws have to be amended.

What are the reasons mentioned by the Jaya Jaitly committee to raise the legal age of marriage?

What are the benefits of raising the legal age of marriage for women?

Many girls will be able to complete their education up to graduation and employability will increase, decrease in maternal mortality as well as infant mortality and reduction in child marriage will occur.

There is a significant difference in the psychological well-being of child brides and those who got married at age 21. There is a significant difference in the mean wages of child brides and those getting married after 21 years of age. So, increasing the age will result in psychological well-being and financial well-being .

Scientifically , the frontal lobe region in the brain that is responsible for decision-making develops in the years between 18 and 20 and attains maturity only by the age of 25. So, until the age of 25, the risk management and long-term planning abilities of the human brain do not kick in. So, increasing the marriage age will not just be about decision-making but also helps in better emotional regulation and maturity. If so, the minimum age for men and women to get married should be 25.

A recent Business Standard analysis had found that households with college-educated women were more likely to have better nutrition and better access to government services .

According to UNICEF , India is home to every third child bride in the world, with more than 100 million of them getting married even before they turn 15. Given the aim to eliminate child marriage by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals , this move is in the right direction.

Have a ripple effect : Research shows that for children, an environment where mothers are educated, qualified or working is very different from an environment where they are not. So, empowering women will empower families, empower children.

Help in achieving SDG : SDG 5 categorically asks nation-states to formulate policies to achieve gender equality. The age difference for women(18) and men (21) have no justifiable logic. Today, women stand on equal footing to men in all possible spheres of life.

What are the legislative challenges in raising the legal age of marriage for women?

Challenges in introducing changes in the personal laws : The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act does not contain any provision that explicitly says the law would override any other laws on the issue.

Even Court’s have different opinions regarding personal laws and special law. For instance, In February this year, the Punjab and Haryana High Court granted protection to a Muslim couple (a 17-year-old girl married to an adult man), holding that theirs was a legal marriage under personal law.

The HC examined provisions of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act but held that since the special law does not override personal laws , Muslim law will prevail.

In other cases, the Karnataka and Gujarat High Courts have held that the 2006 special law would override personal laws and have sent the minor girl to a care facility. So, enacting the Child Marriage Prohibition Bill will trigger personal law vs secular law debate.

Blindspot with respect to Marital rape : In the Independent Thought v. Union of India (2017) case, the Supreme Court has recognised the marital rape of a minor wife. On the other hand, husbands of adult women can enjoy blanket immunity against charges of marital rape. This is a blind spot in the law that needs to be rectified if the legal age for marriage is raised.

Child marriages are illegal, but not void in India : If a court finds a minor was coerced into marriage by parents or guardians, the provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act come into effect to keep the custody of the minor until he or she attains majority and can make a decision on the marriage.

So, Child marriage is not void. The marriage can be declared void by a court only if the minor party(minor women/her relatives) petitions the court.

For instance, The Punjab and Haryana High Court has ruled that the marriage of a minor will be deemed as valid if the person who was underage at the time does not call it void on attaining the age of majority.

What are the arguments against raising the legal age of marriage for women?

Pushing a large portion of the population into illegal marriages : While 23% of marriages involve brides under age 18, far more marriages take place under age 21. Further, the median age at first marriage for women aged 20-49 increased to 19 years in 2015-16 from 17.2 years in 2005-06. But still, that remains under 21 .

Interstate variation of marriage age : According to SRS data 2018, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha and Rajasthan were the worst in terms of effective marriage age. In West Bengal, 47.2% of the women were married between the ages of 18-20.

Penal laws don’t create social change : For example, the marriage age at 18 was set in 1978, but child marriage started to decline only in the 1990s. So, the laws might end up being coercive.

Further, Not all child marriages are prosecuted in India. For instance, the National Crime Record Bureau data says that only 785 cases have been registered under Prohibition of Child Marriage in 2020. The number was 523 in 2019 and 501 in 2018.

Negatively impact marginalized communities : Experts noted that 70% of early marriages(between 18-20) take place in deprived communities such as the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes. The increasing legal age will make them law-breakers.

For instance, according to NFHS 4 (2015-16), the median age at first marriage for women aged 25-49 is higher among the social categories of Others (19.5 years), OBC (18.5), ST (18.4) and SC (18.1).

Impact on rural women is more : According to SRS data, In rural areas, 37.4% were married between the age of 18 and 20, whereas the ratio was 23.2% in urban areas.

Decrease in Child marriage depends on other factors : The decrease in child marriages has not been because of the existing law but because of an increase in girls’ education and employment opportunities.

A study by the International Centre for Research on Women has found that girls out of school are 3.4 times more likely to be married or have their marriage already fixed than girls who are still in school.

Reduce self-choice marriages : Today, an increasing number of young adult couples opt for self-choice marriages across castes and communities, often without the support of parents. If the Bill is adopted, it will deprive this right till she is 21.

Increase feticide : The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 , allows consensual sex at/after 18 years. This implies that a person may have sex after 18, but cannot marry till s/he is 21. This may give rise to other issues such as feticide.

What needs to be done towards women empowerment?

Committee recommendations.

The Jaya Jaitly committee itself has recommended the following to increase the legal age for women,

1. Increase access to schools and colleges for girls, including their transportation to these institutes from far-flung areas, 2. Incorporate Sex education in schools, 3. Ensure Skill and business training for women, 4. Undertake awareness campaigns on a massive scale to ensure social acceptance of increasing the age of marriage.

Other recommendations

Poverty, unemployment, insecurity due to increasing cases of sexual violence on minors and dowry demands are the main reasons for child marriages.

Focus on poverty alleviation programs : Child marriages have reportedly increased during the pandemic due to poverty and lack of access to schools. So, the government has to ensure the continuation of poverty alleviation programs, especially in rural areas.

Increase Female Labour Participation : Creating non-farm jobs for women from low-income families will ensure financial empowerment. Further, India can learn from Bangladesh’s high women’s participation in the labour force and its social change.

Fulfil the recommendation of the Law Commission : The 18th Law Commission of India in 2008 demanded a uniform definition of ‘child’ across all legislations . The Commission examined laws relating to child marriage from different countries and the international covenants that mandate the eradication of child marriage. The Commission recommended that the minimum legal age for marriage for both girls and boys be 18 years.

Replicate the best-performing state : The Niti Aayog recently acknowledged the Odisha government with the SKOCH award for combating child marriage by empowering adolescents and declaring villages as child marriage-free . Such practices need to be replicated by other states.

In many western countries, for example, Australia, The Majority of States in the US, the minimum age of marriage is 18. Further, Young Indians between 18 and 21 can vote, drive, represent the country in sporting events and act in movies deemed ‘Adults Only’. So, the smart reform in India should be to make 18 the minimum age of marriage for both men and women, irrespective of religion.

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Raising legal age of marriage for women:

Gs paper 1:.

Topics Covered: Issues related to women.

The Cabinet has decided to raise the legal age of marriage for women from 18 to 21. This decision is based on the recommendation of a panel led by Jaya Jaitly .

Task force :

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech last year proposed a panel on the “age of a girl entering motherhood” to lower maternal mortality rates and improve nutrition levels.

• But when the decision to appoint a task force was announced, its terms of reference included examining “the correlation of age of marriage and motherhood” with health and nutritional status of mothers and infants.

Important recommendations:

• The age of marriage should be increased to 21 years.
• The government should look into increasing access to schools and colleges for girls, including their transportation to these institutes from far-flung areas.
• Skill and business training has also been recommended, as has sex education in schools.
• These deliveries must come first, as, unless they are implemented and women are empowered, the law will not be as effective.

Rationale behind the proposal :

The committee has said the recommendation is not based on the rationale of population control (India’s total fertility rate is already declining) but more with women’s empowerment and gender parity. The committee has said access to education and livelihood must be enhanced simultaneously for the law to be effective.

• Women’s rights activists have opposed the suggestion and have cited evidence to show that such a move may be used to incarcerate young adults marrying without parents’ consent.
• Also, this move would lead to criminalisation of a large number of marriages that will take place once the law comes into effect.

What the law says ?

Currently, the law prescribes that the minimum age of marriage is 21 and 18 years for men and women, respectively.

The minimum age of marriage is distinct from the age of majority, which is gender-neutral.

• An individual attains the age of majority at 18 as per the Indian Majority Act, 1875.
• For Hindus, Section 5(iii) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 sets 18 years as the minimum age for the bride and 21 years as the minimum age for the groom. Child marriages are not illegal but can be declared void at the request of the minor in the marriage.
• In Islam, the marriage of a minor who has attained puberty is considered valid under personal law.
• The Special Marriage Act, 1954 and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 also prescribe 18 and 21 years as the minimum age of consent for marriage for women and men respectively.

Why is the law being relooked at?

• From bringing in gender-neutrality to reduce the risks of early pregnancy among women, there are many arguments in favour of increasing the minimum age of marriage of women.
• Early pregnancy is associated with increased child mortality rates and affects the health of the mother.
• Despite laws mandating minimum age and criminalising sexual intercourse with a minor, child marriages are very prevalent in the country.
• Also, according to a study, children born to adolescent mothers (10-19 years) were 5 percentage points more likely to be stunted (shorter for their age) than those born to young adults (20-24 years).

InstaLinks:

Prelims Link:

• Jaya Jailtley committee was constituted for the purpose of?
• Legal provisions related to minimum age of marriage for men and women in India.
• Key provisions of Special Marriage Act, 1954.
• Overview of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.

Mains Link:

Do you think minimum age for marriage for men and women should be raised? Discuss.

Sources: Indian Express

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Cabinet nod for Raising legal age of marriage for women to 21

Home » Cabinet nod for Raising legal age of marriage for women to 21

• December 25, 2021
• Governance , Indian Society , Social Justice

The Centre has decided to raise the legal age of marriage of women from 18 to 21 years – The Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021, amends the definition of child to mean “a male or female who has not completed twenty-one years of age”.

GS-I: Indian Society, GS-II: Social Justice and Governance (Issues related to women and children, Government Initiatives and Schemes)

Dimensions of the Article:

How prevalent is underage marriage, significance of child-marriage in india, why is child-marriage still prevalent, about the legal provisions regarding minimum age for marriage, different religions and their minimum age of marriage, amendments to marriage age contradicting ‘age criteria’ of other laws, need for updating the minimum age for marriage, what is the jaya jaitly committee, benefits in increasing the age of marriage for girls, how does the age of marriage correlate with health, issues with focusing only on increasing minimum age for marriage, what have critics said about raising the age of marriage.

• In India, Child-marriage is the marriage of a girl or boy before the age of 18 and refers to both formal marriages and informal unions in which children under the age of 18 live with a partner as if married.
• Data show that the majority of women in India marry after the age of 21.
• Although, the mean age of women at marriage is 22.1 years, and more than 21 in all states- this does not mean that child marriages have disappeared.
• The National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) found that about 26.8% of women aged 20-24 were married before adulthood (age 18).
• United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates suggest that each year, at least 1.5 million girls under 18 get married in India, which makes it home to the largest number of child brides in the world – accounting for a third of the global total.
• Recent study by The Lancet shows that up to 2.5 million more girls (below the age of 18) around the world are at risk of marriage in the next 5 years because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

• Child Marriage contributes to larger families and in turn, population growth. This delays the demographic dividend that would have come from reduced fertility and investment in education.
• Children married at a young age do not understand the responsibilities of marriage. This results in a lack of understanding among family members. Hence, disturbs the institution of the family.
• It negatively influences children’s rights to education, health and protection as a girl who is married as a child is more likely to be out of school and not earn money and contribute to the community.
• A girl married at such a young age is more likely to experience domestic violence and become infected with HIV/AIDS and also there are more chances of her dying due to complications during pregnancy and childbirth.
• Poverty and other financial reasons,
• Lack of education and awareness,
• Patriarchal norms in the society and external pressure on the family resulting from it,
• Cultural norms and practices in certain cases,
• Skewed gender ratio in the population in certain cases,
• Gender inequalities and beliefs connected to these inequalities,
• Perceived Security Concerns regarding raising a girl child,
• Lack of awareness regarding opportunities and beliefs of Limited Access to Education and Economic Prospects, etc.
• Some parents consider the age period of 15-18 as unproductive, especially for girls, so they start finding a match for their child during this age period.
• Law and Order are still not able to provide a secure environment for the girls in adolescent age, so some parents get their girl child married at a young age.
• The Right to Education Act makes education free and compulsory up to the age of 14 only – pointing towards inadequacy in the compulsory norm.

How age limits came to be where they are now?

• The Indian Penal Code in 1860 criminalised sexual intercourse with a girl below the age of 10, introducing the first legal framework for a minimum age of consent for girls.
• Increasing the age by even just two years to 12 in the Age of Consent Bill in 1927 was opposed by many nationalists who saw the move as imperial interference with local customs.
• In 1929, the barrier was further raised to outlaw marriage of girls below 16. From then, it took nearly five decades to bring the law to its current standard of 18 years for women and 21 for men.
• In India, the minimum age of marriage was prescribed for the first time by the law known as the Sarda Act, 1929. It was later renamed as the Child Marriage Restraint Act (CMRA), 1929.
• In 1978, the law was amended to raise the minimum age of marriage to 18 years for girls and 21 years for boys.
• This position remains the same even in the new law called the Prohibition of Child Marriages Act (PCMA), 2006, which replaced the CMRA ,1929.
• For Hindus, The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 sets 18 years as the minimum age for the bride and 21 years as the minimum age for the groom.
• In Islam, the marriage of a minor who has attained puberty is considered valid.
• The Special Marriage Act, 1954 and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 also prescribe 18 and 21 years as the minimum age of consent for marriage for women and men, respectively.
• For the new age of marriage to be implemented, these laws are expected to be amended.
• The Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which seeks to raise the age of marriage for women to 21 years, amends the definition of child to mean “a male or female who has not completed twenty-one years of age”. It over-rides personal laws of Hindus, Christians, Muslims and Parsis, as well as the Special Marriage Act, 1954.
• The 61st Constitutional Amendment Act of 1988 defines the voting age for elections to the Parliament and Legislative Assemblies as 18 years.
• The Majority Act, 1875, defines the age of majority as “”the age of eighteen years and not before”, and as 21 years if a guardian is appointed.
• Under the Indian Contract Act, 1872 a person should have attained the age of majority in order to be able to enter into a contract.
• The law to punish sexual crimes against children, the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 too recognises a child as someone under the age of 18 and thereby implies that the age of consent for sex is also 18 years.
• The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2015 also recognises a child as someone under the age of 18.
• Under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education, 2009 that guarantees access to education, a child is someone between the ages of six to 14 years.
• Under the anti-child labour law or the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2016, which prohibits the engagement of children in all occupations and bans adolescents in hazardous occupations, a child is someone under 14 years of age an adolescent means someone between the age of 14 to 18 years.
• Hence, it can be argued that at one level, we say that the age to enter into contracts and to vote is 18 years. We are recognising that a person has the mental capacity to make decisions that will affect her life commercially or as a citizen, but at the same time when it comes to her personal life, she doesn’t have the right to make decisions. – However, it can also be said that “Age doesn’t have to be the same for everything.”

UN’s recognition of adolescents

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child on the implementation of the rights of the child during adolescence  says that “any investment in young people risks being wasted if their rights throughout adolescence do not also receive adequate attention and investment that is needed to address the societal drivers serving to exclude and marginalize them [adolescents]”.

I- Improve Female Health

• According to a United Nations Population Fund report, India is home to one in three child brides in the world.
• Early marriages causing early pregnancies are inherently linked to higher rates of malnourishment, maternal and infant mortality.
• Although maternal mortality rate has been declining, the move to increase the minimum age of marriage could boost the fight.

II- Keeping up the promise of equality made to women under the Constitution

• There is no reason why the law makes the presumption that the minimum age of marriage must be different for men and women.
• It perpetuates benevolent sexism or the stereotype that women are more mature and therefore, can be given greater responsibilities at a younger age in comparison to men.
• The reflection of patriarchy in personal laws must change to fit the framework of the Constitution.
• In June 2020, the Ministry for Women and Child Development set up a task force to look into the correlation between the age of marriage with issues of women’s nutrition, prevalence of anemia, IMR, MMR and other social indices.
• The committee, headed by former Samata Party president Jaya Jaitly, also had on board NITI Aayog member (Health) Dr V K Paul and secretaries of several ministries.
• The committee was to look at the feasibility of increasing the age of marriage for women to 21 and its implication on women and child health, as well as how to increase access to education for women. The committee was to also recommend a timeline by which the government could roll out the implementation of the policy, as well as the amendments that would need to be made in existing laws in order for this to happen.

What did the committee recommend?

• The committee has recommended the age of marriage be increased to 21 years, on the basis of feedback they received from young adults from 16 universities across the country.
• The committee also asked the government to look into increasing access to schools and colleges for girls, including their
• transportation to these institutes from far-flung areas. Skill and business training has also been recommended, as has sex education in schools.
• The committee said these deliveries must come first, as, unless they are implemented and women are empowered, the law will not be as effective.
• The committee has further recommended that an awareness campaign be undertaken on a massive scale on the increase in age of marriage, and to encourage social acceptance of the new legislation, which they have said would be far more effective than coercive measures.
• The poverty of the mother plays the greatest role of all by far — both in relation to her undernourishment and that of her child. An early age of marriage, and consequent early pregnancies, also have impacts on nutritional levels of mothers and their children, and their overall health and mental wellbeing.
• The mother’s age at childbearing affects educational level, living conditions, health conditions, decision-making power of women.
• India is home to the largest number of underage marriages in the world. The law will help to curb the menace of Child Marriage.
• Preventing early marriage can reduce the maternal mortality ratio and infant mortality ratio.
• As of 2018 data, the maternal mortality ratio — the number of maternal deaths for every 100,000 children born — is 113 – dropping from 122 in 2016.
• India’s infant mortality ratio shows that 30 of every 1,000 children born in a year die before the age of one.
• Both these indicators in India are the highest among the BRICS economies.
• Also, young mothers are more susceptible to anaemia- more than half the women of reproductive age (15-49 years) in India are anaemic.
• The prevalence of anaemia among women has consistently been high over the last 20 years.

• Poverty, Limited Access to Education and Economic Prospects, and Security Concerns are the known reasons for early marriage. If the main causes of early marriage are not addressed, a law will not be enough to delay marriage among girls.
• Women in the poorest 20% of the population married much younger than the women from the wealthiest 20%.
• According to the State of the World Report 2020 by UNFPA , in India, 51% of young women with no education and 47% of those with only a primary education had married by age 18.
• Further, a study by the International Centre for Research on Women has found that girls out of school are 3.4 times more likely to be married or have their marriage already fixed than girls who are still in school.
• The average age at marriage of women with no schooling was 17.6, considerably lower than that for women educated beyond class 12.
• Almost 40% of girls aged 15-18 do not attend school, as per a report of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights.
• Nearly 65% of these girls aged 15-18 who do not attend school, are engaged in non-remunerative work.

Difficulty in Fighting Child Marriage

• The implementation of the child marriage law is difficult.
• The evidence suggests that when the law is used, it is mostly to penalise young adults for self-arranged marriages. The law to prevent child marriage does not work very well.
• While child marriage has declined, it has been marginal: from 27% in 2015-16 to 23% in 2019-20, according to National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 5.
• 70% of early marriages take place in deprived communities such as Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and the law will simply push these marriages underground instead of preventing them.
• Child and women’s rights activists, as well as population and family planning experts have not been in favour of increasing the age of marriage for women on the basis that such a legislation would push a large portion of the population into illegal marriages.
• The change will leave the vast majority of Indian women who marry before they are 21 without the legal protections that the institution of marriage otherwise provides, and make their families criminalisable.
• They have contended that even with the legal age of marriage for women being kept at 18 years, child marriages continue in India and a decrease in such marriages has not been because of the existing law but because of increase in girl’s education and employment opportunities.
• They have said the law would end up being coercive, and in particular negatively impact marginalised communities, such as the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes, making them law-breakers.

-Source: The Hindu , Indian Express, Livemint, Hindustan Times

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Raising the age of marriage for women from 18 to 21 years – Pros & Cons

Table of Contents

Background:

Conclusion:.

Raising the minimum legal age for marriage for girls is a good move. But a mere law cannot bring change in society. Widespread awareness programs on the importance of girls’ education, raising the legal age for marriage should be conducted. The government should increase its spending on education and healthcare. Moreover, the girls’ right to the life of their choice after becoming a legal adult at 18 years should be protected.

Do you think raising the age of marriage for women from 18 to 21 years is a good move? Express your thoughts through the comment section below. And subscribe to our blog to read answers to the trending GD topics.

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11 comments, samundeeswari, sep 11, 2022 @ 6:59 pm reply, sharanya shetty, aug 12, 2022 @ 8:14 pm reply, team gd ideas, aug 12, 2022 @ 9:03 pm reply, renshu, jul 25, 2022 @ 12:26 pm reply, parikshit choudhary, jan 6, 2022 @ 5:00 pm reply, puneeth reddy, jan 5, 2022 @ 7:50 pm reply, sagar, dec 31, 2021 @ 12:30 pm reply, nilesh, dec 25, 2021 @ 4:24 pm reply, sayli pradeep surose, dec 22, 2021 @ 2:39 pm reply.

Sometimes parents have more number of girl child and they have the pressure of their marriages, increasing in the age limit for marriages will give them some more years to gather that amount for marriages and even the girls will get more time to get involved in other activities.

Prajwal, Dec 22, 2021 @ 1:46 pm Reply

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• Wednesday, Jun 19, 2024
• Current Affairs

RAISING LEGAL AGE OF MARRIAGE FOR WOMEN | UPSC | IAS

• January 15, 2022

INTRODUCTION

The central government cabinet has approved the proposal based on the recommendations by the Jaya Jaitley Commission. The proposal suggests raising of the legal marriageable age of the women from 18 to 21 years. It aims to bring uniformity in men and women marriage age and initiate gender parity and women empowerment under sustainable development goal of India. It is also associated with the maintaining the declining fertility rate of the country.

CURRENT LAWS REGARDING MARRIAGE 

• Traditional society in India believed puberty to be appropriate age of the marriage for women i.e., around 10 years. In 1929, Sharda Act was passed which made the minimum marriageable age 14 and 18 for girls and boys respectively. The age was raised from 14 to 18 for girls in 1978.
• Currently, the age for marriage has been set 18 for women and 21 for men under the Section 5(iii) of The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 and Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872. Whereas Islamic rule suggest girl or boy who has attained puberty at the age of 15 is eligible for the marriage.
• The minimum age has been prescribed 18 and 21 years respectively for the marriage of the women and men by the Special Marriage Act, 1954 and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.
• The minimum age set by the government ensures prevention of child marriage as it leads to abuse of minors, early pregnancy, malnutrition, violence and higher child mortality rates.

NEED OF RAISING THE LEGAL AGE 

• Increasing age will allow girls to complete their education and get jobs. It will make them financially independent and thus, help in decreasing maternal and child mortality rate and prevent child marriages.
• The difference in psychological well-being of child bride and the adult bride is great. Physical and mental maturity come with the age.
• Adult women will be able to make life planning and decisions better and perform responsibilities as they are grown mature.
• Graduate women will be able to access nutrition and government services.
• According to UNICEF report, every third child bride in the world is from India which get married before the age of 15. Therefore, the objective of the country is to eliminate child marriage by 2030 under its SDGs.
• Research suggests that educated and healthy women are empowered and thus, empowers their children, families and society.

LEGISLATIVE CHALLENGES IN RAISING THE AGE 

• There is certain contradiction in regard to this matter as different HCs has given different verdicts on the similar cases.
• In February 2021, A Muslim couple consisting 17 years old girl and an adult was provided protection by the Punjab and Haryana High Court under the view that their marriage was legal according to personal law.
• Whereas in similar cases, Karnataka and Gujarat HC held different judgement which says special law is above personal law and sent the minor girl in the care centre. Thus, leading the debate of personal law Vs secular law.
• Another blind spot is that Child marriage is illegal but not void in the country. For example – According to the provision of the Juvenile Justice Act, the court can keep the custody of the minor if she or he is forced into marriage by the parents or guardian and the minor can decide on the marriage after he or she turns into an adult. The court can interfere only if minor party file petition in the court. Until then it will not be void.

ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE BILL

• As most of the marriages take place under age 21, thus the enacted law will illegalise a large number of marriages which already happened.
• It is supposed that penal laws do not bring about immediate changes and take years to get embraced by the society. Thus, raising the age will not create great impact.
• As per the National Crime Record Bureau Data, most Child marriage cases in the country go unrecognized and are not prosecuted.
• According to some research, most of the Child marriages take place in backward castes. Therefore, introducing such act will leave negative impact on marginalized communities and force them to become law-breaker.
• While some believe that decline in the Child marriage is the result of the higher education and job opportunities to the girl and not because of the existing laws.
•  With an increase number of inter-caste and inter-religion marriages, this Bill if adopted, will deprive them from self-choice marriage till the age of 21.
• It may increase the issues of feticide because the girl will be allowed to have sex once, she turns adult at the age of 18 but will not be able to marry until she turns 21.
• The flaw in the Special Marriage Act of 1954 can be amended by bringing the equality in the age of the marriage between men and women. The changes can be initiated in the fundamental structure to empower the young women and also those who have been victim of the early marriage. The government must address the issues of equity by providing education, career counselling, skill development and job placements to women.
• Following are the recommendations given by the Jaya Jaitley Committee:
• To build more school and colleges and provide transportation facilities to these institutions.
• Include sex education in the curriculum to aware the girls on their reproductive rights.
• Offer skill development and business training to empower them financially.
• Conduct awareness campaigns to spread the message and its significance among society to make the law acceptable.

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• The Union Cabinet took the decision to raise the legal age of marriage for women from 18 to 21 years.
• Current Legal ages : At present, the legal age of marriage for girls is 18 and the legal age of marriage for men is 21 years.
• National Family Health Survey (NFHS) data : The recently released National Family Health Survey (NFHS) revealed that child marriage has come down marginally from 27 per cent in 2015-16 to 23 per cent in 2019-20 in the country.

Jaya Jaitly committee and its recommendations

• The Ministry for Women and Child Development set up a task force to look into the correlation between the age of marriage with issues of women’s nutrition, prevalence of anemia, IMR, MMR and other social indices.
• The committee was to look at the feasibility of increasing the age of marriage and its implication on women and child health, as well as how to increase access to education for women.
• Age of marriage to be increased : The committee has recommended the age of marriage be increased to 21 years, on the basis of feedback they received from young adults from 16 universities across the country.
• Increasing access to schools and colleges for girls : The committee also asked the government to look into increasing access to schools and colleges for girls, including their transportation to these institutes from far-flung areas.
• Sex education: Skill and business training has also been recommended, as has sex education in schools.
• An awareness campaign : Undertaken on a massive scale on the increase in age of marriage, and to encourage social acceptance of the new legislation, which they have said would be far more effective than coercive measures.

Need for raising legal age

• Gender-neutrality : The government decided to re-examine the age of marriage for women for a number of reasons which includes gender-neutrality.
• Impacts on overall health and mental wellbeing : An early age of marriage, and consequent early pregnancies, also have impacts on nutritional levels of mothers and their children, and their overall health and mental wellbeing.
• Infant Mortality Rate and Maternal Mortality Rate : It also has an impact on Infant Mortality Rate and Maternal Mortality Rate.
• Empowerment of women : It affects the empowerment of women who are cut off from access to education and livelihood after an early marriage.

Issues/ Challenges

• For Hindus, The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 sets 18 years as the minimum age for the bride and 21 years as the minimum age for the groom.
• In Islam, the marriage of a minor who has attained puberty is considered valid.
• Illegal marriages : Experts have not been in favor of increasing the age of marriage for women on the basis that such legislation would push a large portion of the population into illegal marriages.
• Child marriages : Even with the legal age of marriage for women being kept at 18 years, child marriages continue in India and a decrease in such marriages has not been because of the existing law but because of increase in girl’s education and employment opportunities.
• Negatively impact marginalized communities : Law would end up being coercive, and in particular negatively impact marginalized communities, such as the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes, making them law-breakers.

Significance

• Both the genders at par : With this decision, the government will be bringing the age of marriage for both men and women at par.
• Outlaw child marriages and prevent the abuse of minors : The law prescribes a minimum age of marriage to essentially outlaw child marriages and prevent the abuse of minors.
• For the new age of marriage to be implemented, these laws are expected to be amended.

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NH outlaws child marriage, raising the legal age to 18

New Hampshire is now the 13th state to outlaw child marriage, after more than a decade of advocacy.

A new law , signed by Gov. Chris Sununu last week, raises the age of legal marriage to 18 years old starting in 2025. Previously, 16- and 17-year-olds could get married with permission of a judge.

“Marriage is more than a love story; it’s a legal contract,” said Sen. Debra Altschiller, the prime sponsor of the law signed by Sununu. “If you’re not legally able to get out of a contract, you shouldn’t be able to get into one.”

Unchained at Last, a national advocacy organization lobbying for an end to child marriage, reviewed marriage certificate data from the state and reported that more than 200 minors were married in New Hampshire since 2000. According to their data, nine of those marriages have happened since 2019, when the state raised the age to 16.

Those celebrating the change include Rep. Cassandra Levesque, a Democrat from Barrington who first learned about child marriage at a Girl Scout conference when she was 15 years old. Back then, state law allowed girls over age 13 and boys over age 14 to get married.

“There are so many problems when it comes to child marriage,” she said Monday. “It opens up a door to human trafficking. It allows rapists to marry their victims. It allows for girls to basically not get to become the full potential that they can be.”

Levesque started lobbying the legislature to change it — and eventually became a lawmaker herself.

A bill to raise the age to 18 stalled in the House last year; this year, Altschiller sponsored a similar proposal that won broad bipartisan support.

But Levesque said her work isn't done. She hopes to continue advocating for child marriage bans in the dozens of states that still allow 16- and 17-year-olds to marry.

“Raising it to 18 shows the rest of the country that we want our girls to live to their full potential, that they can be and choose the lives that they want,” she said.

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Raising Legal Age of Marriage for Women | Age of Marriage

Raising the age of marriage for women is a significant step towards empowerment of women . In this regard Union Cabinet's recent proposal has made it a popular topic. Thus raising legal age of marriage for women is very important topic for essay , paragraph or article writing. Let's write a paragraph, article or essay on raising age of marriage for women.

Raising Legal Age of Marriage for Women

There is a certain maturity level when people should think about getting married. Before that they can't take right decision for marriage. At the time of marriage boy and girls must be so matured that they can understand each other and they have given enough time to themselves for their study and career. Recent proposal of Union Cabinet for bringing uniformity in the marriageable age of men and women is certainly a progressive step towards women empowerment .

Raising the age of marriage for women will protect women against early and child marriage. This will bridge gender parity and eliminate the difference of marriageable age of women and men that is presently 18 years for women and 21 years for men. When the age for voting or entering into a contract is same for men and women then why there is difference between marriageable age of men and women. This have no justifiable logic and so it calls for same marriageable age for men and women.

Also Read: Essay on Uniform Civil Code

Raising the age of marriage for women also promotes enrolment of females students in higher education because now girls will get more time for their study and career before their marriage. They will become financially self dependent and in future this will improve social, economical and political status of female.

Why Minimum age of Marriage is required?

The reason behind fixing the minimum age of marriage is that it outlaw child marriages and prevent the abuse of minors. Child marriage or marriage in early age often results in high risk of mental, emotional and physical violence, exploitation, and child abuse. It exposes women to early pregnancy which is associated with increased child mortality rates and affects the health of mother. Many time marriages in early ages doesn't work and results in divorce.

Also Read: Importance of Education

Age of Marriage: Current Laws

The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, sets 21 years as the minimum age for the groom and 18 years as the minimum age for the bride for Hindus. However, in Islam as per their personal laws the marriage of a minor who has attained puberty is considered valid.

The Special Marriage Act, 1954 and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 also prescribe 21 and 18 years as the minimum age of marriage for men and women respectively.

India's effort for Gender Equality

India is continuously striving for gender equality and elimination of all forms of discrimination against women. Since 1998, it has national legislation exclusively on human rights protections which is drafted in consonance with international instruments such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), 1948. Government of India is tirelessly working to improve the socio-economic status of women and launched various schemes for health empowerment, social empowerment, financial empowerment, Girl child empowerment and safety for women to attain the gender equality.

Raising the age of marriage for women: Way forward

Inequality in marriageable age for women and men can't be justified by social, biological or any other research basis and raising the age of marriage for women has future potential to empower women in every field. So this change are widely welcomed by everyone and people should be aware of this fact that raising the age of marriage for women helps in empowerment of women in every field.

Hope you liked this article on Raising legal age of marriage for women. This article is about 500 words, you can take help from here in writing paragraph or essay on minimum age of marriage for women for your exams.

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Top news of the day: Government may raise legal age of marriage for women from 18 to 21; Moscow says Putin, Modi, Xi summit will be held in near future, and more

The major news headlines of the day, and more..

Published - December 16, 2021 07:12 pm IST

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Gilder, George. Men and Marriage. Moscow, ID: Canon Press, 2023.

1 By 1973, the hightide of second-wave feminism had flooded the beaches of American culture. Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique eroded the shores of traditional female roles by naming and stirring up further domestic discontentment. Kate Millet wrote her dissertation-turned-book, Sexual Politics , which sought to overthrow the patriarchy with her Marxist revolutionaries through the National Organization of Women (313).  Against the flood,, conservative George Gilder manned the dikes with Sexual Suicide in 1973. With the rise of intersectionality in third wave feminism, Gilder revised and re-titled the book Men and Marriage in 1986. Besides the 2023 Preface, Canon’s republication is the 1986 edition. While the stats are antiquated, his underlying principles and overall message are clear, and his prescience of future events based on trajectories have far exceeded what he probably imagined.

When Gilder first published Sexual Suicide and then doubled down in Men and Marriage , he infuriated all the right people, drawing the ire of the main players in the feminist movement and exposing the places in our culture where the latest iterations of feminism had taken root. Second-wave feminism fought for equality with men in the workplace and the sexual marketplace. Women wanted to be like men. While the elimination of the differences did not rise to the level that we see today, in which many are claiming that there is no such thing as a man or woman, the equality called for in second-wave feminism helped lay the foundations for what we are experiencing today. Women didn’t want the consequences of sexual promiscuity, and the creation of the birth control pill and swelling tsunami for the legalization of abortion gave their wombs the liberation to live sexually promiscuous lives. 

Gilder’s book rightly aims at the foundations of the false worldviews of feminism by focusing on the differences between the sexes. In the Preface to the 1986 edition (included at the end of this republication), Gilder states that the purpose of his book is to deal with the drive to deny or repress the differences between the sexes (311). He says, “I asserted that ‘the drive to deny them–in the name of women’s liberation, marital openness, sexual equality, erotic consumption, or homosexual romanticism–must be one of the most quixotic crusades in the history of the species” (311-12). His purpose is clear and on point. Once the differences between the sexes are eliminated, civilized society crumbles. 

Gilder explains some of the perils of androgyny as promoted by feminism in chapter 11. His conclusions concerning coeducation and its deleterious effects on boys (181, 187), as well as the distortion of femininity through its suppression by participation in sports designed to perfect the male body, were self-evident in the 1980s and have only been made more apparent in 2023. God’s created design of the male and female bodies embodies their purpose in his world. Men’s bodies, for example, have thicker skin and greater physical strength necessary to subdue the creation. Women’s bodies are softer and have wombs and breasts to nurture children. God equips us to fulfill our dominion mandate physiologically. We mature into our full potential only as we submit to the grain of creation, cultivating our masculine and feminine designs. To rebel is suicide, individual and societal.

Sadly, Western Culture birthed in Christendom must be reminded of basic biological differences and their implications. In Chapter 2, Gilder guides us through those differences and states many truths that would have been glaringly obvious one hundred years ago. Sadly, many in the church have countenanced the belief that the way we are created biologically doesn’t speak to our nature or the nature of our mission as different sexes. Many egalitarians and “thin” complementarians in the church are functional androgynists, claiming that differences are only in roles determined by bald fiat. Even though Gilder’s analysis suffers from being ill-founded (more below), his emphasis on fundamental biological differences is a good reminder for the church as much as for the broader culture. 

For Gilder, the elimination of sexual differences inevitably leads to the breakdown of monogamous marriage. Sexual “freedom” has ill effects within the sexual marketplace, creating large gaps between the haves and have-nots. Women want to marry high-value men who are powerful and with whom they can find security. Men want to find fertile women, and what attracts them are the signs of fertility in physical features and age. (84-85) When women are liberated from the consequences of sexual intercourse, knowing that they will not carry in their bodies the results of their activity, they tend to give up their marriageable years, thinking that all the men with whom they sleep they can marry. What she is doing is giving her marriageable years–her fertility years–to promiscuous men. As her sexual value declines because of her lost fertility and its cues (physical features and age), a man’s sexual value tends to increase as he becomes more successful. Men become more powerful. Women give up their power. The most powerful men then have the largest percentage of women, whether through official or functional polygyny. Less powerful men are left alone (Chapter 6) or resort to homosexuality (Chapter 7). In contrast, enforced strictures of monogamy and societal mores create a more equal sexual marketplace. 

As Gilder points out, the factors breaking down monogamy cannot be attributed to a single purpose. A woman’s hypergamous desire to “marry up” becomes more difficult as she earns a large paycheck. Making more than many men, she tends to see a man earning equal or less as beneath her and not being able to be an adequate provider and protector, increasing her likelihood of divorce if she settles for a lower-earning spouse (62-3, 68, 71). This is one stat that remains consistent from the mid-eighties until the present. 

Other disastrous factor is when the government becomes the man-who-will-support-the-woman through the welfare system. When women can make money and be freed from their ghetto conditions by having babies without marriage, sexual promiscuity is incentivized, and monogamous marriage is discouraged. Men are not encouraged to take responsibility. Instead, lacking something and someone to work for that are his own, the man’s energies are turned to that which is unproductive and often destructive. Women are not encouraged to trust a man who may not be as reliable as the government. Consequently, they will continue to have babies and raise them in fatherless homes, repeating the cycle exponentially (Chapters 8 & 9). 

History has borne out Gilder’s conclusions. Where sexual irresponsibility is incentivized, men and women tend to take the path of least resistance. We are fallen creatures whose sinful tendencies must be discouraged and curbed through godly structures and strictures. If society is to survive, we need mothers and fathers in the home, each assuming their responsibilities within a monogamous marriage (270).

Gilder also reminds us of a principle we know intuitively but have denied in promoting false equality between the sexes: Women are . Men become . There are some weaknesses in how he understands this, but the foundational principle, especially when applied to initial attraction, is solid. Manhood is not given. It is earned. “In all its specific expressions, manhood is made, not born” (11). Manhood is earned through competition and learning one’s place in the hierarchy: only as a man achieves manhood does he qualify for a quality woman’s affection (7). But women don’t understand this masculine anxiety to perform, because womanhood is given to them, not by a performance ritual but by virtue of their bodies developing and receiving their period (10). As pointed out above, Gilder rightly notes that men are attracted to fertility cues, so a woman doesn’t have to do anything initially to attract a man. She is . 

Gilder’s conclusions on many matters concerning the differences between the sexes and the consequences of denying those differences are accurate. However, I don’t see how Gilder reaches some of his conclusions with his premises. His original approach to these subjects through anthropology, social sciences, and evolutionary biology instead of Scripture handicaps his book (xxix, 82, 87). The premise reduces men and women’s drives to a functional, biological determinism. Indeed, while we can learn much from these sciences even as fallen men, the only way to have proper knowledge is through the lenses of Scripture. Somewhere in the process of revising his work, Gilder, I believe, either came to or back to the faith. Some of the revisions in his 1986 edition reflect this, and the 2023 Preface makes his present perspective clear (xxix). Nevertheless, many of the observations don’t reflect a strong grasp of Scripture.

The glaring weakness of the book is its fundamental premise concerning the sexual and moral superiority of women over men by nature.

Imagine with me for a moment, if you will, if I said, “Jesus Christ is a barbarian who must be tamed by submitting himself to the sexual and moral superiority of his bride. The nature of the man is inferior in every way to the superior nature of the female inscribed in her body.” That would be scandalous and heretical. Scripture reveals that the male-female marriage paradigm is the marriage of Christ and his church (Eph 5:22-33). Consequently, our hermeneutic of intersexual dynamics must begin, continue, and end with this relationship. What Gilder is seeing, in many respects, is true. Men are untamed. Women are the gatekeepers of sex, and when they renege on their duties to guard their bodies, the results for themselves, men, and society are destructive. Women have a greater stake in the sexual game, being the ones fully committed in a sexual act that could result in pregnancy, carrying a child for nine months, undeniable maternity, and the responsibility to care for the child. However, these observable patterns aren’t the entire story. And Gilder says that these observable patterns of “nature” and “the facts of life” (which I understand to mean “design”) prove that women are not only superior in men to having babies, but they are also morally superior because they are females (chapter 1, 264, 266, 277). The way Gilder presents it, feminine sexual superiority is a feature, not a bug resulting from the fall.

Gilder’s view of women as presented in Men and Marriage borders on gynocolatry. In the opening, we might expect to hear, “In the beginning, God created the woman, and everything flowed from her superior position in the universe.” Women are the creators of civilization (4, 16). Civilization is based on female sexuality and biology (17). Men are not even a part of civilization unless forced to be so by women (73).

Men are barbarians ( passim ). Men aren’t human (11). Women are the measure of what “human” means, and men are only tamed and made human by marriage (18, 60). The woman in her body is original righteousness while the man is original sin. In historical theological terms, Gilder is Augustinian when dealing with men and Pelagian when dealing with women. Men are depraved by design. Women must fall from a state of grace (see, for example, the Prologue, “The Princess and the Barbarian”). The man’s sex drive is understood as de facto problematic and maybe even sinful per se . “He [the man] becomes law-abiding and productive, in essence, because he discovers it is the only way he can get sex from the woman he wants, or marriage from the one he loves” (60). While it is true that a man must initially prove himself to be married and thus have access to sex, the issue is framed in such a way to portray the man’s sex drive as something only tamed by a woman and not by himself. Before he meets a woman, the man is only a hormone-driven, lustful barbarian. He doesn’t have a mission beyond getting sexual release. His mission is subordinated to his sexual lust and, thus, subordinated to the woman and her mission.

This is problematic on a few levels. First, when we read the paradigmatic story of marriage, we discover that the man was created first, had a mission, and the woman was created to help him with his mission. She was to be in submission—under his mission. He was not created after her to submit to her and her mission. The woman was made for the man, not the man for the woman (1 Cor 11:9). Because she was created as an extension of the garden (Song 4:12, 15, 16; 5:1), the woman becomes a part of his mission to guard and tend (Gen 2:15). He is to cultivate the woman. She is not the total focus of his mission (though she embodies it in many respects) because they share a common mission bigger than either of them as individuals. Far from submitting to the woman’s long-term sexual horizons, the woman is called to submit to the man in marriage to work toward a common mission of which her sexual purpose is vital. While Gilder emphasizes the necessity of men and women in marriage to build society (“the dominion mandate”), his fundamental premise undercuts it.

A second problem arises, putting an undue burden of responsibility on women. Women have moral responsibility, to be sure. But the way Gilder frames their responsibility, they become solely responsible for civilization because men are by nature barbarians and may claim no moral responsibility unless the woman fulfills her headship role. This is precisely the opposite of God’s design. The woman falls when she is unprotected by the man. He is to be the leader. This is the basis of the patriarchy that Gilder says is inevitable. (254) What follows from Gilder’s fundamental principles is a matriarchy and not a patriarchy. Men must follow what some have called “the feminine imperative” because it determines everything in the world.

A third weakness concerns the “Women are. Men become.” principle. As mentioned above, this is a solid principle, but it is a solid principle that mainly concerns the laws of attraction in intersexual dynamics. The way Gilder presents this principle (even though he doesn’t use the phrase that I do) is that this is a truism in every aspect of the relationship of men and women throughout the lifespan of their relationship. This suggests that women don’t need to develop character or do anything to make them worthy of praise. There is no burden of performance on them. However, Lady Wisdom in Proverbs 31 is praised for her character and the works that spring from that character (Prov. 31:10-31). Womanhood is granted by creational design, but the woman must take that gift and develop it into a fruitful character. Her youthful beauty will fade as vapor (Prov. 31:30). Her ever-maturing character will be an inward beauty that shines through everything about her (1 Pet. 3:4). Like the man, the woman must be sanctified just as Christ is doing with his church (Eph. 5:26). Men and women don’t have the same burden of performance, but each has a burden of performance.

Gilder’s conclusions don’t align with his premises, in my opinion. If women are the source and formers of civilization, it would stand to reason that men would be at best, expendable, and single-mother homes would be ideal. Gilder recognizes that fatherless homes are detrimental. (Chapter 8). But why? Is it only because the woman has tamed the man? If that is the case, why can’t she tame sons without the presence of a father?

Also, if men need to be tamed by women to submit to feminine long-term objectives, why is it not good for boys to be coeducated with girls and taught by women instead of men, as he advocates in chapter 11? Cut out the middleman. Literally. Girls are distracting in education, but they are the civilized ones, the real humans. Men must learn to conform to their civilized way of acting. Gilder’s conclusion is a non sequitur from his premise. He is right about everything he says concerning the perils of androgyny and fatherless homes. His premises undercut his conclusions.

The book is focused on men and marriage in such a way that one could infer that women don’t need anything from marriage. Men are the needy ones. Men’s sex drive must be tamed along with their barbaric, unproductive lifestyles. Though women can be led astray, females only need to realize their original righteousness and be ready to sanctify the man to make him a productive member of society. However, the Scriptures present the woman as much in need of marriage as men. In some respects, women need marriage more than men because they are relatively weaker and need the protection and security from a faithful man. Throughout Scripture, God commands that women such as widows need special attention because of their vulnerability. Even more fundamental than this, a woman also needs the sanctification that comes through submitting herself to her husband as her head, as the church does with Christ.

Men and women need one another in a complementary fashion, both of us having strengths and weaknesses that fill the gaps in the other. The superiority that Gilder attributes to women should be attributed to God’s design for marriage itself. It is in men and women submitting to God’s institution of marriage, not in men submitting to the long-term horizons of female sexuality, that we will build and sustain godly societies and avoid sexual suicide.

Bill Smith is pastor of Cornerstone Reformed Church in Carbondale, IL.

• Many of these thoughts were developed in private conversations with Pastor Rich Lusk. Where his thoughts end and mine begin, I can’t tell. However, Pastor Lusk should not be blamed for any deficiencies that may appear here. ↩︎

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Also, Thailand’s vote to legalize same-sex marriage.

By Amelia Nierenberg

Biden will give protections to undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens

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