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

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 (<0.001), and women’s education (<0.001) on age at marriage was noted, while the influence of women’s occupation was not significant (p = 0.642). Mean age at marriage differed significantly with different education level. Women who graduated from primary school married 0.631 years later on average than illiterate ones, while those who graduated from middle schools, high schools (9th–10th standards) and higher secondary schools married significantly later than illiterate ones by 1.454 years and 2.463 years, respectively. Age at marriage increased over time: from slightly above 15 years in the cohort of illiterate women born in 1950 to almost 19 years in quite well-educated women born in 1990. The average age at marriage estimated for four education levels in 1990 ranged between 16.39 years (95%CI: 15.29–17.50) in the group of illiterate women and 18.86 years (95%CI: 17.76–19.95) in women graduated from high and higher secondary schools. 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.