3 Reasons Why the Minimum Marital Age for Women Needs to be Re-evaluated

During his Independence Day speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort, PM Modi announced that the central government has set up a committee to reconsider the minimum age of marriage for women. Minimum age of marriage, especially for women has been a contentious issue, and has often been critically scrutinised by the religious and social conservatives.

The law was introduced to outlaw child marriages and for protection of minors. Currently, the age of marriage prescribed under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, and the Special Marriage Act, 1954 is set to 18 for the bride and 21 for the grooms while under Islam the marriage of a minor who has attained marriage is considered valid. Let’s take a look at how this decision might impact the women in a positive way:

1. Positive Impact on Health

Preventing early marriage can reduce the maternal mortality ratio and infant mortality ratio, both of which are highest in the BRICS economies, and have been particularly hard waves to navigate for India. Early marriages have a detrimental effect, on both the offspring as well as the mother. Further, young mothers are susceptible to anaemia as data from a survey corroborates, more than half the women of reproductive age (15-49 years) in India are anaemic.

2. Declining Trend in Early Marriages

According to a survey of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, the majority of women in India marry after 21. The figures also suggest that the average age at marriage of women with no schooling was 17.6, considerably lower than that for women educated beyond class 12. But the trend does not indicate that child marriages have disappeared. The latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) found that about 26.8% of women aged 20-24 were married before attaining the age of 18.

3. Promotion of Socio-Economic Equality

Women would be able to make better decisions for themselves when they are able to complete higher education. Also there would be less societal pressure to get married early. The Law Commission consultation paper has argued that having different legal standards contributes to the stereotype that wives must be younger than their husbands. According to the survey of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Women in the poorest 20% of the population are married much younger than their peers from the wealthiest 20%. Not only would the law be a step towards attaining gender neutrality but would also promote equal opportunities for males and females.