ABSTRACT
There has been a steady decline in child marriage worldwide in recent decades. While this trend is also evident in India overall, the state of West Bengal has experienced a less dramatic decline in the proportion of child marriages, placing it at the top position among states. In this context, from 2016 to 2018, we undertook a field-based research project in seven districts of this state. Even in West Bengal, however, there has been a significant increase in age at marriage, especially for girls. While underage marriage persists, the age at marriage has risen sufficiently that many now speak of early marriage rather than child marriage. What are the implications of this rise in age at marriage? This chapter will examine both the historical and contemporary ramifications of the question. It grapples with various legislative measures around age and definitions of childhood in the colonial and post-colonial periods and seeks to connect child marriage with child labour and institutional education among different social groups. It also discusses two related themes emerging from the field in contemporary West Bengal – the emergence of a new social category, adolescent girls, earlier prevalent among the urban middle classes in cities but now also among the poor in rural Bengal; and a strong perception that deferment of marriage arrangements by parents has led to an increase in elopements by minors. There appears to be an emerging trend in self-chosen early marriages.
