Determinants and Regional Variations of Age at First Marriage in India: Results from Multilevel and Spatial Analysis

Pallabi Das, Institute of Development Studies Kolkata (IDSK)
Zakir Husain, Presidency University

Nuptiality practices, particularly the age of first marriage (AAFM), are important determinants of fertility patterns, reproductive health and social relations. Wide inter and intra-country variations in AAFM are observed, with AAFM being low in South Asian countries like India. Studies have identified poverty and lack of education to be determinants of AAFM; it is also low within socially disadvantaged socio-religious groups and in northern Indian states. Such studies, however, generally do not consider the role of community-level factors, ignore the time-variant nature of education and economic status and fail to incorporate the effect of both spill overs from contiguous areas and inter-generational transmission of nuptial practices. This study uses a multilevel regression model & spatial econometrics to analyze the effect of individual, household and community-level factors on the AAFM using data from the nationally representative NFHS data. Results reveal that respondents from Hindu and disadvantaged social groups, with less educated partners, and residing in areas with low AAFM, lower adult sex ratio, high wealth index scores and with neighboring areas preferring young brides are at risk of early marriage. This paper suggests that targeting such vulnerable groups and geographic clusters through the promotion of education and awareness programmes is important.

Keywords: Spatial Demography, Multi-level modeling , Children, Adolescents, and Youth, Population Policies

See paper.