Child Marriage

Why child marriage persists in India — and the work that helps girls stay in school instead.

Why child marriage persists

India’s Prohibition of Child Marriage Act sets the legal age of marriage at 18 for girls and 21 for boys, yet child marriage continues. The reasons are rarely only about tradition:

• Poverty and dowry. A wedding can look cheaper, or safer, than years of school fees.
• Insecurity. Families facing debt, illness or displacement may marry a daughter early to reduce the number of people they must support.
• Distance from school. When a girl has no safe way to keep learning, marriage can look like the only option a family has.
• Social expectations. Community norms about a girl’s role can outweigh the law, especially where families fear stigma for waiting.

The consequences do not stop at the wedding. A girl who leaves school early is more likely to face health risks, limited earning options and a household where her own choices carry less weight.

Education as prevention

Prevention is therefore not only a legal matter. Keeping girls in school, easing the cost of education and working with families and community leaders changes the calculation. The interventions we support are practical:

• Stay in school, with fees, materials and exam costs covered.
• Safe accommodation and transport where distance is a barrier.
• Mentoring and regular contact with the family, not a one-off payment.
• Support beyond Grade 12, so a girl has a next step that is not marriage.

Our girls’ support and scholarship work is designed around that idea: stay connected to the girl, the household and the school, rather than intervening once.

What the posts show

The posts here examine why child marriage happens, what it costs girls and communities, and which responses show promise. They are not simple success stories; they describe the trade-offs and the long work of changing expectations. They also look at what happens after a marriage is prevented: whether a girl returns to school, catches up and stays.

If you want to support that work, there are several ways to get involved.