THE EXISTING SOCIO-ECONOMIC SPECTRUM OF AGE AT CONSUMMATION OF MARRIAGE

K. K. SINGH AND B. N. SINGH

The article deals with the trends of, female age at consummation of marriage (CM.) in Eastern with respect to various socio-economic determinants. The socio-economic variables, across the study, are caste, education, social status, economic status and occupation. Data for the study has been taken from a survey entitled, "Rural Development and Population Growth—A Sample Survey 1978", conducted by the Centre of Population Studies, .

K. K. Singh and B. N. Singh, the Centre of Population Studies, Banaras Hindu University, —221 005

Introduction Marriages especially in rural areas, are arranged by parents. The marrying partners have little say in this matter. A marriage ceremony generally consists of two functions (i) the actual wedding and (ii) consummation of marriage (CM.), when the bride is actually sent to her conjugal home. Conjugal relations generally start after the CM. Since the females are exposed to risk of conception only after the CM., it is important to consider the variation in the age at CM. for assessing its effect on fertility.

Human fertility is a result of several institutional and biological factors such as age at CM. of the female, duration of fertile union, and the speed with which a couple builds its family. Among these, the age at CM. is an important factor. A rise in the age at the first marriage tends to affect the level of fertility of a couple considerably. In countries like , where measures of family limitation are not in general use, the age at which CM. is contracted can have a significant effect on the completed size of the family. A rise in mean age at CM., say, by one year, with other things being equal, will postpone the births of children born to married women within the first year of their CM. and if the age at CM. does not fall at any other time in the future, the country will permanently miss one year's crop of children. This is on the assumption that the per couple completed size of the family does not change. However, in India where family size is not planned, and children are regarded as gifts of God, rising age at CM. can effect the total period of exposure to the risk of pregnancy. It will, therefore, be very fruitful to investigate the mean age at CM. and to know its other socio-economic effects.

It is commonly known that child marriages have long occurred on a large scale in India, and one would consequently expect a very low average age at CM., particularly among the females. However, it is reported that age at CM. has increased during past few years (Agarwal, 1960; Driver, 1965; Agrawal, 1966; Kapadia, 1966; Mukherjee, 1973).

The reproductive period of a female starts from menarche and ends with menopause. The average age at menarche and menopause lie, respectively, between the 13th and 14th as well as 47th and 50th year (Patnaik, 1971; Post 1971; Amundsen et al. 1973 a-b; Singh and Bhaduri, 1975). Obviously, a female is exposed to the risk of 84 K. K. Singh and B. N. Singh giving birth throughout the reproductive period, if she is married at the time of menarche and leads a continuous married life till menopause. One of the suggested measures to reduce total fertility is to broaden the duration between menarche and age at CM. by raising the age at CM. of the female. It is argued that raising the age at CM., specially of the female partner, may automatically result in sizeable reduction of births. Ryder, 1960, Khan, 1964; Goyal, 1964; Agarwala, 1966; Basavarajappa and Belvalgided, 1967; Mazumdar, 1960, reported a difference of about one birth between marriages up to age 15 and those after age 19. On the basis of a nationwide survey, the Registrar General of India (Jain, 1964) reported a significant difference in the number of births between females married before and after age 18. Jain (1969) has observed that the time required to conceive reduces with increasing age at CM.

Rapid industrialization and urbanization have, however, brought in social change and have consequently introduced new patterns of behaviour. The areas of women's activities are widening as a result of the higher education of women, and their consequent entry into the labour force. They are gaining economic independence, and, hence, their status is undergoing a significant change.

In the light of these changes, in this paper, we have tried to explain the differentials of age at consummation of marriage in respect of some existing socio-economic characteristics in Eastern UP.

Data and Methodology

This study is based on the data collected in a survey entitled "Rural Development And Population Growth— A Sample Survey 1978," under a research project conducted by the Demographic Research Centre, B.H.U., in the year 1978. The main objective of the project was to study the existing level of fertility, mortality, marriage and migration in three types of villages, namely, semi urban, remote and growth centres, representing different levels of socio-economic development. The villages of Varanasi Tehsil were classified into two strata. Those within a distance of 3 kms. from the city of Varanasi were classified in the first stratum, known as semi-urban, and the rest of the villages were taken in the second stratum called remote villages. Eight and six villages were selected from each stratum, respectively. In the context of growth centres, two and three villages were selected, respectively, where sugar mills have been established recently and a vast network of carpet weaving has been created. All the households, numbering 3,514, selected by two stage stratified random sampling, were surveyed. Besides other information, detailed data relating to age at marriage (i.e. age at consummation of marriage from when conjugal relation starts) with consequent information of 3,514 households, covering a population of 23,321 persons and 3,894 eligible couples, regarding education, caste, occupation, social status and economic status were collected. The present study is based on socio-economic factors and their influence on female's age at consummation of marriage.

Age at Consummation of Marriage Differentials

Age at consummation of marriage differentials in Varanasi, according to some socio­ economic variables, are presented below:

1. Age at Consummation of Marriage and Caste

Differences in the mean age at CM. among various castes are well marked in Varanasi. The rural population of Varanasi consists of mainly two religious groups, viz., The Existing Socio-Economic Spectrum of Age at Consummation of Marriage 85

Hindu (about 95%) and Muslim (about 5%). Hindu households in the sample belonged to 35 castes. For the present analysis, they are grouped into 6 categories on the basis of their similarity of patterns of living and their relative position in the area. The last group consists of all the castes of Muslims. The groups are:

1. Upper castes Brahmin, Bhumihar, Kshatriya, Kayastha, Brahmbhatta, Gosaim Mahabrahmin.

2. Middle castes Koiri, Kurmi, Ahir, Gareria.

Bania, Telli, Thathera, Sonar, Kalwar, Halwai, 3. Business castes Barai.

Kohar, Kahar, Lohar, Nai, Mali, Mallah, Bind, 4. Functional castes No'nia, Rajbhar.

Chamar, Khatik, Dharkar, Dhobi, Nat, Pasi, 5. Scheduled castes Bhangi, Musahar.

6. Muslims Table 1 presents the mean age at consummation of marriage in three types of villages according to caste. The table shows that the average age at CM. of the semi-urban, remote and growth centres are found to be 15.29, 15.91 and 15.86, respectively, and the overall age at CM. of rural Varanasi is found to be 15.56 years.

Table 1

DISTRIBUTION OF FEMALES AGE AT CONSUMMATION OF MARRIAGE ACCORDING TO CASTES

The table shows that the overall age at CM. is the highest for the upper castes and the lowest for the scheduled castes. The caste groups, according to their age at CM., •are as follows:

Upper 16.63 Muslims 16.03 Middle 15.43 Business 15.42 Functional 15.37 Scheduled 14.77 86 K. K. Singh and B. N. Singh

This relationship may be due to various affecting factors, such as education, possession of land, social contacts, associated with the different caste groups. The lowest age at consummation of marriage, among the scheduled castes, may be because of their high illiteracy and engagement in either agricultural or unskilled labour force in the neighbouring urban Varanasi, whereas, the prevalence of higher education is relatively more among the upper castes which may be helpful in raising their average age at CM.. Wide social contact may also be helpful in this regard.

2. Age at Consummation of Marriage and Occupation

The husband's occupation has a very dominant influence on the age at CM. of a female. In order to see the differences of average age at CM. according to various occupations, we classified the occupations into nine categories.

1. Own agriculture 2. Agricultural labourer 3. Business 4. Industry/household industry 5. Govt./Semi-Govt. service 6. Transport 7. Construction 8. Private services/other service 9. No occupation

Table 2 reveals different ages at CM. for the various occupational groups. It may be noted that the highest age at CM. is found in the No-occupation group and next to it in the service groups (Govt./Semi-govt. and Private service).

Table 2

DISTRIBUTION OF AGE AT CONSUMMATION OF MARRIAGE ACCORDING TO HUSBANDS OCCUPATION

The lowest average age at CM. is noted in the agricultural labour. This is, perhaps, due to the persons being illiterate or mostly belonging to lower castes.

A low age at CM. is seen in groups engaged in construction, or associated with household industry, and this is because of normally less education or belonging to the lower castes. The Existing Socio-Economic Spectrum of Age at Consummation of Marriage 87

3. Age at Consummation of Marriage and Social Status

Social status depends on several factors. In this study, we have taken seven factors as the determinants of social status of a household. These are:

1. Caste 2. Total land (size of land holding) in possession of H.H. 3. Maximum education (among person above 20 years in the H.H.) 4. Daily income (other than agriculture) 5. Type of residential house (size and quality) 6. Use of milk (per day) 7. Types of clothes used during winter

The index of these determinants is called social status. Appropriate weight is assigned to each of the above factors and the total score represents the social status of the household. The social status of a household is treated as the social status of each member of the household, and hence, the social status of the female undergoing the study of age at CM. The total score ranges from 0 to 90. The households in the sample are classified into one of five groups according to the value of this index. The first group corresponds to an index of 24 or less, while the last group consists of households scoring index 65 and above, other groups being in the intermediate range.

These categories of social status are defined as follows:

Social status group Total score

I Low 0-24 II Lower middle 25 - 34 III Middle 35 - 44 IV High 45-64 V Very high 65 and above

Table 3

DISTRIBUTION OF AGE AT CONSUMMATION OF MARRIAGE ACCORDING TO SOCIAL STATUS

Table 3 presents the average age at CM. according to the social status group of the households. It will be observed from the table that there is a high and positive 88 K. K. Singh and B. N. Singh association between age at CM. and social status in remote villages, whereas the association is positive but weak in semi-urban and growth centre villages.

4. Age at Consummation of Marriage and Economic Status

Economic status of the household has a considerable impact on age at CM., as the higher economic status groups tend to higher age at CM. of the female.

Economic status is measured considering two main factors: 1. Total land (size of holding) in possession of household 2. Per capita income (other than agriculture)

Appropriate weight is given to each of the above factors and the total score shows the economic status of the household. The economic status of the household is treated as the economic status of each member of the household and, hence, the economic status of the female undergoing the study of age at CM. The total score ranges from 0 to 90 and is categorised as below:

Economic status group Total score I Low 0-24 II Lower middle 25-34 III Middle 35-44 IV High 45-64 V Very high 65 and above

Table 4

DISTRIBUTION OF AGE AT MARRIAGE ACCORDING TO ECONOMIC STATUS

Table 4 presents the average age at CM. in three types of villages according to economic status. The pattern in the table witnesses a high positive relation between age at CM. and economic status groups. However, in growth centres, low age at CM. is observed in the middle and very high economic status groups with respect to the lower middle and high status groups, whereas, in semi-urban villages, the lower middle economic status group reveals comparatively higher age at CM. than the middle and high economic status groups.

5. Age at Consummation of Marriage and Educational Status

There is clear evidence that the average age at CM. of the more educated group is higher than that of those who are illiterate or belong to the less educated groups (Agarwala, 1962). The educational status of a family may be determined by estimating the educational level of all the members of the family. Appropriate weights have been given to each class which the members of the household had passed. The total score The Existing Socio-Economic Spectrum of Age at Consummation of Marriage 89 is the educational status of household, and, hence, the educational status of the female under study. The total score varies from 0 to 10 and they are grouped as below:

Economic status group Total Score I Low 0 II Lower middle 1-2 III Middle 3-4 IV High 5-6 V Very high 7 and above

Table 5

DISTRIBUTION OF AGE AT CONSUMMATION OF MARRIAGE ACCORDING TO EDUCATIONAL STATUS

Table 5 shows the distribution of age at CM. according to various educational status groups. The Table witnesses the strong and positive association between age at CM. and educational status for remote villages with high and positive, as well as weak and positive, association for growth centres and semi-urban villages, respectively.

Very high as well as low educational status groups show, approximately, equal age at CM. in the three types of villages, whereas, other groups show the difference of, approximately one year between the different types of villages.

Discussion and Conclusion

The findings of the paper reveal that the households belonging to the upper castes, higher educational, social and economic status have observed higher age at CM.. Thus, it is seen that the upper stratum of rural society is contributing to the lowering of the population explosion with positive consequences, as they arrange the marriage of their females after some years of the beginning of menarche. The findings are very much consistent with the results of other studies on age at marriage. Agarwala (1966) reported that higher castes, and the trading community, revealed a higher age at marriage than other castes. The same pattern is shown by the present study.

The occupation of the husband has a considerable impact on the female's age at marriage as it was found that occupations which have higher earnings such as government service, business and own agriculture, influence the age at marriage rather than other occupational groups. 90 K. K. Singh and B. N. Singh

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The Indian Journal of Social Work, Vol. XLVII, No. 1, (April 1986)