Child Marriage Remains a Major Challenge in West Bengal: SRS Report

West Bengal emerges as one of the weaker-performing large states on delayed marriage, according to the recently released Sample Registration System (SRS) Statistical Report 2024.

The data shows that only around half of women in the state marry at the age of 21 or later, well below the national average of about 74%. At the same time, West Bengal records one of the highest shares of marriages occurring before the age of 18 among the major states covered in the report.

A striking feature of the state's marriage pattern is the large concentration of marriages between ages 18 and 20. Nearly one in two women marry during this period, suggesting that while many marriages may be legally above the minimum age of 18, marriage continues to take place relatively early in life.

Compared with the national average, the prevalence of under-18 marriage in West Bengal is roughly two to three times higher. The state also has a much larger share of women marrying between 18 and 20 years, while the proportion marrying at 21 or above is about 24 percentage points lower than the national figure.

Researchers and policymakers often point to a combination of factors behind these trends, including economic vulnerability in rural areas, higher dropout rates among girls after secondary education, persistent social expectations around early marriage, and considerable variation across districts within the state.

The data suggests that West Bengal's challenge extends beyond child marriage alone. The larger concern is the continued prevalence of marriage in the 18–20 age group, which contributes to one of the lowest proportions of women marrying after 21 among India's major states.

This article is written by Amatallah Waheed, a student of EFLU, interning at Deccan Chronicle, Secunderabad