Wednesday 29 May 2013

Statistics about arranged marriages in India

Arranged marriages are still the norm in India. Bollywood nor the growing influence of Western culture has changed that.



So we know that India’s divorce rate is still at a very modest 1.1%. Although this percentage is well and truly rising, it still compares rather well to other countries, most notably the US, a country with a divorce rate of 50% (yes 1 in 2!). Now some new facts and figures have emerged about arranged marriages in India after Unicef conducted research and released the findings. Most notable fact is that there seems to be no decrease in arranged marriages with the percentage steady at a whopping 90%.
If you think that Bollywood and its romantic portrayal of love would have broken down the arranged marriage tradition you are wrong. The institution has proven to be remarkably resilient even though its lack of official recognition. As a result a whopping nine out of ten marriages in India are still arranged. Having said that one needs to apply nuance to the term ‘arranged marriage’ as the contradiction between arranged marriages versus love marriages is not as black and white as it may seems, with “self-arranged marriages” becoming commonplace.

What exactly is a self-arranged marriage?

There’s a distinct increase of marriages that are arranged for couples that have met by themselves and have become involved romantically. Basically the marriage is arranged after the spouses have already become romantically linked. These self-arranged marriages basically fill the void between love marriages and arranged marriages.

But what do the lovers want?

In 2009 a survey was executed by a matchmaking site and the results indicated that part of the reason that arranged marriages are still sustaining is the fact that young Indians actually prefer taking this route. More than half of respondents preferred arranged marriages whereas just 18% favoured the love marriage option. Firm proof that arranged matrimony is still firmly engrained in the Indian mindset.
Add to that the fact that love marriages are actively discouraged in some parts of the country and one can conclude that India will hold on to arranged marriages for a while to come. Just recently a village panchayat (council) in India’s northern Uttar Pradesh state has officially banned “love marriages’. The men and women who have objected to an arranged marriage and have found love in a more natural way were banned from living in their village, effectively being expelled.
Although arranged marriages are still prevalent across the globe, nowhere in the world are they quite as prevalent as in India. With Unicef estimating that 55% of all marriages in the world are arranged it seems that the marital situation in India is not that unusual at all. One thing is for sure, arranged marriages will remain an integral part of the Indian culture for a while to come. Not even Bollywood can change that!

Some additional fact and figures from Unicef

  • Divorce rate India = 1.1%
  • Global divorce rate for arranged marriages = 6%
  • Average age difference in an arranged marriage = male 4.5 years older
  • Percentage of women in South Asia forced to marry before 18 = 48%


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