Health and well-being of adolescent mothers and mortality status of infants in India

Abstract

Marriage is the socially sanctioned union involving two or more individuals for procreation. The State has been particularly interested in the age of marriage of girls. In the Vedic period, girls were married at 16 years or above. Age of marriage or the nuptial age has always remained a contentious issue in India. The age at marriage which was pegged at 14 and 18 years for females and males respectively (Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929), has been continually revised and increased over time. The age of marriage for females has been increased from 14 to 15 (1949 Amendment) and then 18 years (1978 Amendment) to delay the incidence of early marriage. The Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill 2021 proposes increasing the age of marriage for females from 18 to 21 years to bring about gender equality in marriageable age for men and women, lower the incidence of teenage pregnancy, infant and maternal mortality rate, and to improve nutritional levels and sex ratio (The Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill 2021). The health and well-being of adolescent mothers are further exacerbated by the contradictions in the interplay of laws.