Marriage Arrangements and Customs in India

Abstract

The present study attempts to analyse the marriage arrangements and customs in India using the data from India Human Development Survey II (2011-12) and Census of India. The result shows that age at marriage for males and females has increased by 3 and 5 years respectively during 1960-2011. The bivariate analysis discloses that two-thirds of women in India met their husbands only on wedding day or the day of Gauna. Only 5 per cent of them have chosen their husbands independently. The prevalence of inter-caste marriages is observed to be 5.4 per cent at the national level. Results of multivariate analysis indicate that marrying outside the caste and blood relations is influenced by socio-economic factors. Results also show that marriage expenditure for girls is higher than for boys.