9 Trends in age at marriage

Shalini Singh and Gautam Kshatriya

LEARNING OBJECTIVE

• It focuses on the importance of nuptiality
• It highlights and trends of age at marriage in world and also in India.
• It gives us an understanding about the various correlates of marriage.

    NUPTIALITY plays an eminent role in determining the growth rate and the level of fertility in a population. An upward shift can be seen in severely less developed country where the population growth rate has lowered. Also the women were part of those societies where reproduction was primarily confined within marriage the changes in marriage ages were

directly linked to fertility. Trend of age at marriage recognises the role of policies and programmes in liberating and rising of female age at marriage. It might be able to influence population growth rates apart from national family planning programme.

Trends: In World

Historically, the European demographic transition was due to changes in nuptiality pattern. Late marriage and wide spread celibacy were among the foremost mechanisms which lowered down the fertility in Western Europe. However, in eastern and central Europe marriages generally occurred early were nearly universal and decline in marital fertility led to a further decline in fertility. By Changing the patterns of age at marriage and by also lowering down the proportion of ever married women can lead to demographic transition in many developing countries. A  shift towards late marriage is  a characteristic of a mid transitional stage in the course of fertility decline occurring among nations. Coale’s (1974) analysis revealed that in the initial phase of demographic transition early and universal marriage prevailing slowly paved the way to later marriage and fairly common spinsterhood leading to a decline in marital fertility.

Trends: India

The important factors responsible for present high population growth were the persistent of low level of age at marriage in many of the India states. Age at marriage became the focus and attention of scholars and policy makers because early and universal marriage believed to contribute to high fertility levels. Despite of vigorous efforts of legislation prohibiting child marriages, many marriages below the desired ages are performed in hooks and corners of India. The latest amendment to the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1978 laid down the minimum age at marriage for females in India as 18 years but it didn’t turn fruitful as the mean age at marriage continues to remain much below 18 years of age in several states. An achievement in the socio economic upliftment of women leads to change in the current task of slowing down of India’s population growth rate. Also, changes in the existing marital behaviour of early marriage has led to cessation of education for girls and premature assumption of domestic and child care responsibilities.

There has been a rise in the age at marriage since around the middle of 19th century in India. Further a variation in the age at marriage can be seen between the northern and southern states, and also within states among castes, communities and across other social strafications.

The overall trend in marriages is responsible for other changes in the size and character of the population. Young couples setting new households, having children, and effectively entering the economy as units for the consumption of goods and services. A young man’s standing in the labor force is generally stabilized by marriage, while for young women, marriage often changes that standing abruptly. Residential patterns of newly formed families help to determine the distribution in space of the population as a whole. An examination of marital patterns is useful for understanding the nation’s population — its distribution, annual births, new families and households formation, the size and composition of its labor force, as well as of its rate of population growth. Of these characteristics, population growth, of course, has been of particular interest recently because of its detrimental effect on economic and social development. The population growth rate is said to be affected by prevailing level of age at marriage in several ways. Generally postponement of marriage leads to a delay in family formation process and also diminishes the average completed family size of married women surviving the childbearing period. Delayed marriage exerts an independent effect on family size and increases the mean length of a generation. Elimination of potential child bearers leads to a shift in the age pattern of fertility.

Figure 1 shows that mean age at marriage among girls was just 13 years at the beginning of the year 1901 which rose to 20.8 years in the year 2011.

Fig 1: Singulate Mean Age at Marriage in India 1901 to 2011

Source: Computed from census data for the period 1901-2011, India (Office of the Registrar General Commissioner)

Figure 2- Percenatage Married among Males and Females with varied age groups

Singulate Mean Age at Marriage

Correlates of Female Age at Marriage

In India, marriage was a relationship between two families rather being a relationship between two individuals. The extent to which this characteristic feature has changed is a matter of debate, but it is sure that individual choices have rosin the education and urbanisation of Indian society. The rise in age at marriage of females is associated with a

• Significant increase in female literacy.
• Urbanization of Indian Society

   The female literacy took a transit from 10 percent in 1951 to 65 percent in 2011. States like Kerala in 2011 experienced female literacy of 92 percent, 71 per cent in Punjab and 52 per cent- the lowest in Rajasthan in 2011. Similarly, urbanisation of Indian society rose from 17.2 per cent in 1951 to 31.1 in 2011.

Rising level of education and urbanisation brought about geographical mobility of women for attending school and colleges than before. The mate selection process happened due to change in family relationship. The family continues to be a moving force and parents consider their duty in arranging marriages as a result most of the marriages in India are arranged by parents and are also conducted by the consent of children. Instances of individual assertions of self choice in marriages are extremely very few for a large Indian society with a billion plus population. In an Indian traditional setup daughters are still considered to be a liability and often referred to paraya dhan. A notion lies that earlier they are married better it is. Outside marriages are frowned upon because it creates a strong sense of fear among parents and close relatives of losing their prestige and goodwill. Thinking also prevails that upon not following the rules of endogamy, their future marriage prospects of their wards would be doomed. Inspite of rising education and urbanization the pressure to marry off their daughters continues. As a consequence, early marriages continue to occur below the age of 19 years at all India level which goes as high as 33 per cent in the state of Rajasthan in 2011. Early marriage deprives females their access to education, push them to early child bearing and various other risks of maternal and reproductive health problems (Raj et al 2009).

A scarcity of women in India’s population, sex ratio can be seen females per 1000 males is unfavourable, but in the marriage market this would be true when men and women marry at the same age. However, this is not true in India as the spousal age gap is about 5 years at the present. With an increasing population and declining mortality, the younger cohort will be larger than older ones, and if women tend to marry older men then there will be surplus women in the marriage market. This phenomenon is typically called the marriage squeeze (Rao 1993). According to Bhat and Halli (1999) the declining mortality also drastically reduced the number of widowers in the population who once accounted for about one fifth of the annual supply of bridegrooms. They also believe that as a result of decline in fertility, the marriage squeeze against females will ease substantially by the end to be delayed more than those of women.

    Table 4 presents some important indicators of marriage squeeze- such as sex ratio (F/M) of marriageable age group and sex ratio among the never married population. As women marry, on average, men of about 5 years older, it may be observed that sex ratio is highly unfavourable to females in the states of northwest India namely Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. These states are also known for strong patriarchal norms and values (Dyson and More 1983). Among states, Haryana has the lowest over all sex ratio of 878 females per 1000 males in 2011 , showing there is a great deficit of females in the total population. On looking at the marriageable group, the sex ratio improves hugely to 934 and among the unmarried, there is a large surplus of females with a sex–ratio of 1111 females per 1000 males in the marriageable age group. Thus, the marriage squeeze against women persists in Haryana even at a very low level of overall sex ratio. The same situation is found in most of the states including Punjab and Rajasthan. However, Kerala shows that marriage squeeze has reversed against males. In 2011, among the never married marriageable group, only 886 females were available per 1000 males; although in total population females outnumber males in Kerala. As the squeeze has turned against males, male age at marriage has been rising almost a year per decade, whereas female age at marriage has shown a bit declining during the decades 1991-2001 and 2001-2011. On average, Kerala men marry at the age of 29 years compared to women at the age of 22 years. The spousal gap in marriage age in Kerala has increased to 7 years- one of the highest in the country. It seems that reversal in marriage squeeze against women

Determinants of Age at First Marriage

In India, where the demographic transition is still under way, marriage norms have been uniformly very favourable to high marriage prevalence and early marriages in major states, as evident from the data presented in earlier sections. Nevertheless, there has been some change in the situation and the increase that has taken place in age at marriage is due to socio-economic changes, particularly improvements in education, urbanization and expansion of work opportunities outside agriculture. Increasing educational attainment has helped to transform the entire value system governing marriage and the family, as well as to spread new ideas about marriage and the family. Work participation outside agricultural domain has substantially increased the individual’s economic independence from parents, thereby helping young couples to determine their marriage mate. This is evident from the state-wise nuptiality transition pattern where the changes in marriage timing is consistent with basic socio-cultural changes in the state (data not presented). Moreover, there have been many attempts to explain the change in the pattern of age at marriage. Goode’s (1963) modernization theory emphasizes the impact of industrialisation on marriage patterns. Modernization operates at both societal and individual levels by affecting marriage timing. According to him, expansion of educational opportunities, changes in work force and occupational activities, and urbanization are the most important ‘modem forces’. In the process of modernization individuals with higher social status (more education, modem occupational roles etc.) want more freedom and thus tend to marry later in life. Place of residence is another factor-people reared in urban areas are exposed to more diverse life-styles and to weaker social controls than those who are reared in rural areas or small towns. As a result, those growing up in an urban environment are more likely to marry late than those living in the rural areas.

Empirical studies in Asian countries support Goode’s (1963) modernization theory (Minh, 1997; Savitridina, 1997). The effect of these modernization factors may be found in any population, although the degree influence of each factor may not be the same across countries and time or across provinces and country. In addition to modernization, there are other influential factors affecting the pattern of age at marriage, for example, religion and caste or ethnicity, in certain developing countries. In this context, Dixon (1971) in her sociological framework emphasized the effect of social institutions, such as the family system and marriage norms and customs as well as factor such as warfare, which may affect the age-sex ratio. While marriage squeeze (availability of marriage partner) is likely to have little effect on the age at marriage in most of the Indian states (there being no severe imbalances in the age-sex ratio of the marriageable population during the recent past) the other factors such as the family system, social pressure, marriage norms and customs as well as individual motivations to marry and financial and social conditions are again likely to be influenced by the modernization forces. There are few studies, which have dealt with these factors affecting age at first marriage in India. Most studies have focussed on the impact of early marriage on fertility rather than to better understand how to solve the issue of early marriages in India. In view of this, an examination of marital behaviour and its determinants in varying socio-cultural set up would be useful for policy makers and planners to monitor social intervention programme. Considering the diversity in marriage pattern and socio-economic changes across the country, it was felt necessary to study the effects of various socio-economic and other factors on the pattern of age at marriage in certain selected states showing distinct nuptiality pattern (based on the analysis presented earlier). For example, Kerala being the only state in the first group which is leading the nuptiality transition in the country, and Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, being the least progressive group of states are selected, where as Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and West Bengal are selected from the intermediate categories. The other consideration in the selection of these six states is their progression towards fertility transition. For example, Kerala is also leading the fertility transition while Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh belong to the group of states, which have progressed least towards fertility transition.

What are the determinants of late marriage in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the southern part of India, which are being considered as “Model States” in view of their relatively better success in progressing towards fertility transition. The singulate mean age at marriage for females is in the range of 21-22 years and total fertility rate is in the range of 2.0 to 2.5 in these two states. It is interesting to note from the results of MCA presented in Table 9 that religious affiliation and female education are the two most important factors affecting age at marriage for females in Kerala.

To conclude, it must be noted that the role of nuptiality in achieving reduction in fertility is clear from the results, in particular in the states that are leading in the nuptiality transition. Therefore, the population policies aimed at reducing fertility should consider marriage as an element of fertility change. In this regard, it is important to investigate the role of various socio-economic and cultural factors such as education, occupational activities, role of women, economic independence, family structure, marriage norms and customs, ethnicity, economic hardships, unemployment and migration on the nuptiality changes, for suitable social interventions. All these aspects could not be examined in this study. Only quantitative research may not be enough and it needs to be complemented by in-depth research on the reasons for the slow increase in age at marriage, particularly for the states which have progressed least in the nuptiality transition. Nevertheless, this study which covered a number of states in the quantitative analysis of the factors affecting the age at first marriage of the females, shows that one could consider the role of modernization factors such as growing urbanization, increased educational attainment and employment opportunities outside agriculture, particularly for females. While policies cannot immediately change the rural-urban structure nor where people are born, they can target areas that are amenable to change such as increasing educational attainment, providing occupational opportunities outside agriculture.

There has been a considerable rise in age at marriage of females from about 13 years during the first decade of the 20th century to about 20 years in the first decade of 21st century among most of the states of India, but the pressure to marry early continues in Indian society. The pressure to marry early is exerted by rising dowry, marriage squeeze and the age old tradition of hypergamy not only limited to social status but also to the factors associated with age, education and economic status. On the other hand, although female literacy has been rising rapidly, the level of education among women is extremely low along with low work participation rate. In such situation, daughters are considered to be a liability while marriage is viewed as the possible avenue of economic security of a woman. Thus, in Indian society early marriages have deep rooted psyche embedded in social structure. It seems that late marriages have been occurring probably by default– i.e., inability to marry due to lack of suitable match, and inability to pay dowry and rising cost of marriage. It is true that rising level of education has played some role but its association with rising dowry and lack of job opportunity of women, as evident in low work participation in urban areas, discourages many parents to educate their daughters and also compel them to marry off at the earliest. The case of Kerala shows that the upper limit of mean female age at marriage could rise up to 22 years thereafter declines as female marriage squeeze turned against males. This has also led to a rise in the proportion of child brides in Kerala. It is worthwhile to note that in Indian situation marriage squeeze, be it against females or males, continues to exert pressure for the early marriage of girls primarily due to its interaction with cultural norms of hypergamy based on age, education and economic status. As factors like marriage squeeze and hypergamy operate within.

Summary

• NUPTIALITY plays an eminent role in determining the growth rate and the level of fertility in a population. An upward shift can be seen in severely less developed country where the population growth rate has lowered. Also the women were part of those societies where reproduction was primarily confined within marriage the changes in marriage ages were directly linked to fertility.
• In eastern and central Europe marriages generally occurred early were nearly universal and decline in marital fertility led to a further decline in fertility. By Changing the patterns of age at marriage and by also lowering down the proportion of ever married women can lead to demographic transition in many developing countries.
• The important factors responsible for present high population growth were the persistent of low level of age at marriage in many of the India states. Age at marriage became the focus and attention of scholars  and policy makers because  early and universal  marriage  believed  to contribute to high fertility levels. Despite of vigorous efforts of legislation prohibiting child marriages, many marriages below the desired ages are performed in hooks and corners of India.
• To conclude, it must be noted that the role of nuptiality in achieving reduction in fertility is clear from the results, in particular in the states that are leading in the nuptiality transition. Therefore, the population policies aimed at reducing fertility should consider marriage as an element of fertility change.
• In this regard, it is important to investigate the role of various socio-economic and cultural factors such as education, occupational activities, role of women, economic independence, family structure, marriage norms and customs, ethnicity, economic hardships, unemployment and migration on the nuptiality changes, for suitable social interventions.

Suggested Readings

• Dyson, T. (2013). Population and development: the demographic transition. Zed Books Ltd.
• Farooq, G. M., & Simmons, G. B. (Eds.). (2016). Fertility in Developing Countries. Springer.
• Furedi, F. (1997). Population and development: a critical introduction.
• Lutz, W., Sanderson, W. C., & Scherbov, S. (2004). The end of world population growth in the 21st century: New challenges for human capital formation and sustainable development. Earthscan.
• Padmadas, S. S. (2016). Gordon A. Carmichael: Fundamentals of Demographic Analysis: Concepts, Measures and Methods. European Journal of Population, 32(5), 761-763.
• Population: An Introduction to Concepts and Issues- John R weeks.
• Preston, S., Heuveline, P., & Guillot, M. (2000). Demography: measuring and modeling population processes.
• Spoorenberg, T. (2014). Reverse survival method of fertility estimation: An evaluation. Demographic Research, 31, 217.
• Weeks, J. (2011). Population: An introduction to concepts and issues. Nelson Education.