Where education still moves the needle: marriage, not family size
Recent data from the National Family Health Survey suggests that increased education for women is a primary driver in delaying marriage in India. While policy efforts have targeted both family size and marriage age, education remains the most effective lever for social change.
Why it matters
Understanding the correlation between education and marriage age is critical for shaping effective social and demographic policies in developing nations.
India has implemented multiple strategies to address early marriage and high fertility, primarily through two policy approaches. The first approach has focused on increasing girls’ participation in education. Initiatives such as the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (2001) targeted universal elementary education, while the Right to Education Act (2009) established schooling as a fundamental right for all children aged 6 to 14. The Mid-Day Meal Scheme provided nutritional incentives to encourage school attendance. More recent programmes, including Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, and West Bengal’s Kanyashree Prakalpa, have further promoted girls’ education and delayed marriage.
The second policy approach has addressed family size and the institution of marriage directly. India introduced the world’s first national family planning programme in 1952. The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, established the minimum legal age of marriage for women at 18, with a subsequent proposal in 2021 to increase this to 21.
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