The Urban Indian Marriage, Is The Institution Getting Outdated?

New generation trends.

- Kolla Krishna Madhavi

Don’t you want kids?” Surprisingly, when someone delays their marriage, this is the more common question they are asked. In a country which is as pronatal as India, parenthood is a desirable state, where ‘vansh’ (or ‘progeny’) help to continue the family legacy.

As per the Sample Registration System demographic survey (2017 SRS survey), Census India, around 24.7 per cent in urban India got married between 18 and 20 years of age. The corresponding figure for Census 2011 was 29.6 per cent.

“I am is reportedly the shortest sentence in the English language. Could it be that I do is the longest sentence?” – George Carlin

What is changing around the world? Not just in India but globally, more and more urban youth are increasingly postponing their marriage, either by choice or due to circumstances. In a face-off between career and marriage, career seems to be taking the lead. And in tandem, childbearing is taking a backstage.

Within the Asian region, such trends were first observed in Japan and more recently in South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, China as well as India.

Asian trends in age at the time of marriage

The emphasis on lineage and ancestor worship is particularly pronounced in Asian countries like India, China, Japan, etc. As per a study by Bumpass, Rindfuss, and colleagues (Bumpass et al. 2009; Rindfuss et al. 2004), marriage is viewed in Japan and East Asia as a “package” of family expectations and obligations that may be increasingly unattractive to well-educated young women and men.