Marriage Formation Process and Reproductive Autonomy, Communication, and Family Planning Use: Evidence from Newly Married Women in India

Nadia Diamond-Smith, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health
Lakshmi Gopalakrishnan, University of California, San Francisco
Sumeet Patil, NBER

Marriage formation patterns are shifting in South Asia, including in India, with a move towards more communication prior to marriage, even within an arranged marriage framework. Yet we know little about what these new patterns do for couples relationships, communication, and reproductive health behavior in early marriage. Leveraging data from a longitudinal study of 539 newly married women in Rajasthan, India, we explore the association between components of the marriage formation process (love/arranged, how well the couple knew each other before marriage, and time since marriage) and relationship quality, communication, women’s autonomy in sexual and reproductive health, and family planning use. Having a love marriage was associated with more reproductive autonomy in early marriage; interestingly, among those who had an arranged marriage, those that knew their husband reported better relationship quality, communication, and more autonomy. However, only time since marriage was associated with family planning discussions and use. Increased communication prior to marriage is improving the quality and communication early in marriage, but there are still opportunities for that to translate into reproductive health decision making and behaviors.

Keywords: Families, Unions and Households, Family Planning and Contraception, Gender Dynamics, Longitudinal studies

See extended abstract.