From little girls to adult women: Changes in age at marriage in Scheduled Castes from Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract

Background Research confirms the negative relationship between early marriage and mothers’ and children’s health outcomes. This is why studies of the changes in age at marriage are an important task from the point of view of the health status and well-being of a mother and her offspring, especially in groups represented by extremely disadvantaged social strata in India. The results of such studies may influence the future family planning policy in the country. Objectives This study aims to investigate the trend of age at marriage among the Scheduled Castes (SCs) women from two Indian states: Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh relative to the level of education and also to socioeconomic changes in the states. These states manifest the highest proportion of girls getting married below the age of 18 years–far above the proportion observed in entire India. Methods Women from Scheduled Caste, N = 1,612, aged 25–65, born in 1950–1990 were investigated. A modern semiparametric regression approach was used. To capture the relationship between age at marriage and year of birth, categories of women’s level of education (illiterate; primary: 1st–5th standards; middle school: 6th–8th standards; high school: 9th–10th standards; higher secondary: 11th–12th standards), and categories of the profession (women working in the agricultural sector or the non-agricultural sector), flexible framework of the Generalized Additive Model (GAM) was applied. Results A significant impact of the cohort defined by the year of birth (Conclusion The rise of age at marriage can be partly explained by the increase of females enrolled in schools, the alleviation of poverty, and the implementation of social programs for women.