India has the largest population of child wives, with Census 2011 reporting that 17 million children aged 10 to 19 were married. It also shows a significant dip in the number of child brides below 14 years. There is, however, no change in girls getting married at 16/17 years. Most of these marriages happen in rural India.

However, a new longitudinal study (2002-14) of 1,000 married girls aged 19 in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana by Young Lives India shows there is a glimmer of hope.

The longer a girl stays in school and college, the greater the chances of delay in her age of marriage and the better her chances for improved maternal health. Poverty and fear for the girl’s safety after puberty as secondary schools are often far from home are compelling reasons for early marriage. If, however, girls and their mothers have aspirations for education and a better life, girls pursue studies despite the odds and marriage gets pushed back.

Take the case of Sarada, a backward class girl with physical impairments, who was able to surmount the pressure to work in cotton farms and continued her education till she was 20. To avoid monetary dependence on the family, she took to giving tuitions and her college fees were waived because of her physical handicap.

Beating the odds at home

Family influence and status also determine the education level and marriage of children. In the case of Preethi, a Scheduled Tribe girl, though her parents were poor farmers they were keen to educate their children to ensure they didn’t become daily wage labour. After completing her senior secondary, Preethi joined college and in the very first year fell in love and eloped. She says her mother tried to find her a good alliance and failed. She eloped to save her the trouble.

Thulasi, a backward caste girl living in a rural area, was married in 2007 at the age of 14, two years after her puberty. She had only studied till Std V. “After I matured, my parents were scared to send me to school, that too in another village.” Asked if parents in her community still discontinue girls’ education after they mature, she said they keep it a secret from the community and continue to send their daughters to school till they are 16

Sri Devi, from a backward class, was married at 15 after completing Std IX. Since Std VII she had been combining work and school. Her first job, harvesting flowers, required her to work on weekends and holidays. She also washed clothes and fed the livestock on Sundays. She said her father was not in favour of children doing hard work but her mother sent them to work because they were poor. Her father and brother sold their cattle for her marriage expenses, and sold their sheep a few years later for her sister’s marriage — this left them without any assets.

For its research on childhood poverty, Young Lives India followed the children over a ten-year period.

The study by its country head, Renu Singh, and Prof Uma Vennam shows that 28 per cent of the older girls interviewed were married before turning 18. Only one per cent of the boys were married at that age. A whopping 59 per cent of the married girls had given birth to their first child by the age of 19. Significantly, girls who left school by 15 years were four times more likely to marry before 18 than those who remained in school. Also, girls from the poorest households were twice as likely to marry before 18 as those from the least poor homes.

Brother effect

The study also showed that having an elder brother increases the chances of early marriage. Around 44 per cent of girls who married before 18 had an older brother who contributed to family expenses as well as the dowry. The presence of an older sister reduces the chances of marriage before 18 unless they are married simultaneously to reduce expenses.

Girls who did paid work at 12 years were likely to remain single till 19, but child labour impedes regular attendance in school. Universalisation of secondary education is seen as key to delaying child marriages. There is need to build on the educational aspiration of girls and parents; address persistent gender discrimination; build a campaign against dowry and child labour. Young men and boys, including brothers, needed to be addressed on all these issues.

The writer is a senior journalist based in Delhi

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