Exploring the Subnational Decline of Child Marriage in India: The Crucial Role of Education Expansion

Basant Kumar Panda, Population Council Consulting
Abhishek Kumar, Population Council
Neelanjana Pandey, PopulationCouncil Consulting
Udaya S. Mishra, Centre for Development Studies

This paper attempts to understand the paradox of child marriage with the expansion of education in India and states using the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) data. The specific aim of this research is to understand the marriage stalls, periods of high growth, and their association with education using cohort measures over the period measure. The study found half of the states in India evident marriage stalls majorly during 1991-2005 and a higher level of reduction was observed in 2010-2021. Kitagawa decomposition analysis suggests both compositional and rate effects are the major contributors to stalls except in some states like Rajasthan, West Bengal, and Jharkhand. Similarly, we found that education contributes a large chunk of the reduction of child marriage and is largely reduced due to the secondary or higher level of education. Using the intersectionality approach the study evident that education discrimination leads to child marriage in lower social classes and castes. The study suggests girls’ participation in secondary schooling was the most essential condition for reducing child brides. Moreover, the policy and program need to focus on the local context as it varies by subnational geographies. The findings are essential in child bride in India.

Keywords: Children, Adolescents, and Youth, Decomposition analysis, Human Capital, Education, and Work, Inequality, Disadvantage and Discrimination

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