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Why boys marry early?: An enquiry into factors associated with early marriage of young men in rural Uttar Pradesh, India

Shekhar Chauhan, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)

Introduction: While documenting the early marriage among females, literature across the globe has forgotten the issue of early male marriage. Despite its continued prevalence, it received little attention in the past. This study tries to explore various factors associated with male child marriage in rural India. Data and Methods: Primary survey was conducted in twelve villages of Uttar Pradesh and 348 males who were married below 21 years of age and their fathers were interviewed. Logistic regression and decomposition analysis were used. Results: Nearly 27 percent of males in our sample were got married below 18 years of age. In nearly one-fifth of the cases, parents arranged early marriage of their sons because there were other sons and daughters to be married after him. Caste, religion, the composition of children, household income, father’s education, and age at which father got married were the significant factors that contributed to early marriage of young men. Conclusion: Fathers play a vital role in deciding the marriage of their sons, including age of marriage, and it is important to engage them in discouraging early marriage of boys. Programmatic efforts are required to alter the centuries old cultural practice of child marriages in India’s villages.

Keywords: Children and youth, Demographic and social surveys, Decomposition analysis/methods

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  Presented in Session 110. Sexual and Reproductive Health of Young People