Decline in Child Marriage in India, but Gaps Remain
Recent data from the National Family Health Survey-6 (NFHS-6) for 2023-24 shows that India continues to see a reduction in child marriage. The survey reveals that 20.1% of women aged 20-24 were married before the age of 18, the legal marriage age for women. This figure is a slight decrease from 23.3% reported in the previous survey (NFHS-5) conducted between 2019 and 2021.
The situation among men is also improving, with 15.9% of men aged 25-29 having married before the age of 21. This marks a significant drop of 17.7% since the last survey.
In addition to child marriage, the survey highlights progress in reducing gender-based violence. The percentage of married women aged 18-49 who reported experiencing violence from their spouses has decreased from 29.2% in 2019-21 to 22.3% in 2023-24. However, the issue remains more severe in rural areas, where 24.4% of women reported such experiences, compared to 17.5% in urban regions. In the previous survey, the figures were 31.6% for rural women and 24.2% for those living in cities.
Over the years, child marriage has been steadily declining. In 2005-06, the prevalence was at 47.4% (NFHS-3), then dropped to 26.8% in 2015-16 (NFHS-4), and now stands at 20.1% in 2023-24.
Despite this overall improvement, a noticeable gap still exists between rural and urban areas. The latest survey found that 23.3% of women in rural India were married before turning 18, compared to just 11.4% in urban settings. These figures were 27% and 14.7% in the previous survey.
A similar divide is seen among men, with nearly 19% of rural men marrying before the age of 21, versus 9.7% in urban areas. The earlier survey recorded these figures at 21.1% for rural men and 11.3% for urban men.
Additionally, the report sheds light on adolescent motherhood, revealing that 6.7% of women aged 15-19 were either already mothers or pregnant at the time of the survey, a figure that has remained steady since the last round. On the matter of gender-based sexual violence, the survey indicated a slight decline, with 0.7% of women aged 19-29 reporting experiences of sexual violence before turning 18, down from 1.2% previously.
Overall, the survey indicates progress in tackling child marriage and violence against women, but highlights the ongoing challenges, especially in rural areas.
