Rise of Child Marriages

• 13 Jan 2024

Why in News?

A recent Lancet study on child marriage in India highlighted an overall decrease in child marriage across the country. However, it emphasized that certain states, specifically Bihar (16.7%), West Bengal (15.2%), Uttar Pradesh (12.5%), and Maharashtra (8.2%), collectively contributed to over half of the total headcount burden of child marriages in girls.

Key Points

• According to the National Family Health Survey 4 (NFHS 2015-16), 39.1% of women within 20-24 years are married before 18 years.
  • This means 2 out of 5 adolescent girls are married off before they complete their higher secondary education.
• As per the District Level Household Survey (DLHS-4, 2015-16), child marriage in the intervention areas of CRY-supported projects in Bihar, Supaul had the highest percentage of child marriage, followed by Begusarai, Jamui, Samastipur and Gaya districts.
• As the latest Census (2011) data reveals, there are over 13 million adolescent girls who are married between 10 to 19 years of age.
  • A startling 3.8 million adolescent girls in India have children, of which 1.4 million had two or more children, even before completing adolescence.
  • A brief analysis of their education profile reveals that 39% of girls who were illiterate had begun child bearing, compared to 26% who were literate, proving that even a little education goes a long way in empowering girls.
• To address the issue of child marriage on a sustainable basis, the need of the hour is to ensure inter-departmental convergence where schools, Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), and panchayati-raj institutions need to play a pivotal role.
• Following the mandate of Integrated Child Protection Scheme, formation and strengthening of Child Protection Committees at the Gram Panchayat and block level needs immediate attention, and these units would have to be accountable to address issues related to child marriage.

NFHS-4

• In addition to the 29 states, NFHS-4 included all six union territories for the first time and provided estimates of most indicators at the district level for all 640 districts in the country as per the 2011 census.
• The survey covered a range of health-related issues, including fertility, infant and child mortality, maternal and child health, perinatal mortality, adolescent reproductive health, high-risk sexual behaviour, safe injections, tuberculosis, and malaria, non-communicable diseases, domestic violence, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) knowledge, and attitudes toward people living with HIV.