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Background: Child marriage is not a new phenomenon in India. The prevalence of child marriage remains high in many districts of West Bengal. Objectives: The present study aims to address socioeconomic factors associated with girl child marriage and its effect on selected pregnancy outcomes among women in the Malda district of West Bengal. Methods: The study is based on primary data, collected from the Manikchak CD block by adopting a random sample survey technique. The participants in the study consisted of 357 ever married women aged 15–49 years. Results: Multivariate analysis revealed that the prevalence of child marriage was substantially higher among women who had no formal education resided in the marginalized family. Similarly, educated parents were less likely to marry their daughter at an early age. Besides, the likelihood of miscarried or stillbirth, complications during pregnancy and delivery were significantly higher among those married <18 years than those married at 18 years or later. Conclusions: The findings of this study suggest preventing child marriage by increasing opportunities for girls' education and employment. The targeted approach should be made among rural and poor girls to reduce the vulnerability of child marriage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers gendered accounts of girls' schooling and childhood from urban India. It challenges global 'girl effect' narratives by grappling with the interplay of poverty and caste patriarchy and how it shapes families' struggles and concerns and girls' (re)productive labour, (un)freedoms and classroom experiences. Moving beyond the notion of 'multiple childhoods' it develops a conceptual framework that accounts for the way the state, the market, economic inequalities and local patriarchies inscribe poor girls' schooling and work. Drawing upon ethnographic work with Class VIII students in a state school it also unpacks girls' negotiation of classed and casted patriarchies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Girl child marriage remains widespread in India despite implementation of several policies and programmes to eliminate the practice. This study examines the effects of girls' educational attainment and household poverty on the prevalence of female child marriage at the district–level in India. Data are drawn from the 2015–16 National Family Health Survey. Multiple linear regression models were employed to assess the factors of girl child marriage. The results indicate that girls with no schooling and primary level of education are having higher probability of getting married at an early age. However, likelihood of girl child marriage starts declining with secondary level of education. Moreover, higher secondary and higher level of education significantly reduces the prevalence of girl child marriage. Similarly, moving from poorest households to richest households significantly decreases the probability of child marriage. The results suggest that increasing opportunities for girls' education and financial supports to the poor families could be effective strategies towards eliminating the practice of girl child marriage in India. Highlights • Girls' secondary and higher level of educational attainment and betterment in household economic condition significantly reduces the risk of girl child marriage. • Urbanization, religion, women autonomy, and region also have significant influence on the prevalence of girl child marriage. • Increasing opportunities for girls' education and providing financial incentives to the poor families could be an effective strategy to eliminate the practice of girl child marriage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child labour is a multi-faceted problem. When we hear about child labour, generally we think of market work, i.e. children employed in mines and factories. Yet only small portion of child labour are engaged in market work particularly in developing countries like ours. Those children who are working in household industries are often excluded by researchers and policy planners. Thus leaving us with a limited knowledge about the possible causes of child labour in the home based industries like carpet weaving in Jammu and Kashmir state. To fill this gap, an attempt is made in the present study to analyse various determinants of child labour in the carpet weaving industry of Kashmir, so that necessary measures can be suggested for its reduction. Data has been collected from a sample of 960 sampled households with the help of interview schedules from four selected districts of Kashmir Valley. Our results shows that low socio-economic status i.e. low income of the family, illiteracy of household head and large size of the family force the children to enter into the labour market at their tender age. Further, we found because of growing educated unemployment problem in the state, parents prefer to employ their children in the labour market instead of schooling. The study suggests that child labour can be reduced if parents are compensated equal to the earnings of their children and their educational cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Poverty and child labour have a positive relationship in India. • Agriculture employs more than half of all child labourers in India. • The average age at which children begin working is 16 years, with and average of 6 to 8 years of education. • Children from economically disadvantaged families and the Muslim community are more likely to engage in child labour. Child labour continues to be a major concern in India despite the implementation of various policies and programmes aimed at its eradication. This study investigates factors that influence child labour in India with a focus on regional differences. The data is drawn from the 2019–20 Periodic Labour Force Survey. Binary logistic regression is used to identify factors that influence child labour. The findings show that children with pre-primary and primary education are less likely to be in the workforce, whereas children with secondary and higher secondary education are more likely to be in the workforce. This reflects the higher rates of secondary school dropouts attempting to enter the labour force. Likewise, poor families are more likely to send their children to work. Similarly, children from economically and socially disadvantaged communities, and Muslim households are more likely to be sent to work. The findings suggest that increasing children's educational attainment and providing financial assistance to poor families could effectively eradicate child labour in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: During a study of the occupational health of the child workers in several small leather workshops, investigations were also made of the sociocultural factors that made it necessary for the children, aged between 7 and 14 years, to work. The psychosocial effects of the same factors were also investigated.Methods: Personal interviews were carried out with a prepared questionaire, and the findings were compared between the working children and a control group of the same number of non-working children from the neighbourhood, matched for age, sex, and religion.Results: It was found that the foremost cause of taking up employment by the children was poverty. The overall effects found were deprivation of education and lowering of aspirations, that indicated a blunting of mental faculties.Conclusion: Prolonged, monotonous work in childhood that precludes education and healthy recreation, is harmful to the children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Higher educational attainment and urban residence significantly reduce the risk of male child marriage. • In all of the states and UTs, early marriage among men is concentrated in poor only. • Education, caste, and residence contribute significantly to the inequality in early marriage among men. • Achieving further improvements in reducing early marriage among boys requires confrontation of the barriers embedded in laws, policies, and in social norms and values. The practice of child marriage still prevails in many communities of India, especially those are governed by customary and traditional practices. Although girls are excessively affected and form the vast majority of the victims of child marriage, boys are also subjected to early marriage. Much has been discussed about the child marriage of girls, but surprisingly early marriage of boys has received very little attention in India. This study attempted to explore the various reasons associated with early marriage among men and also investigate the region-wise inequality in India with the help of the concentration curve. Estimates of decomposition analysis for quantifying the contribution of various explanatory variables for early marriage among men were also presented. This study utilized data from National Family Health Survey-4 with a sample size of 71,666 ever-married men. Men who had higher education levels were 46% less likely to marry before the age 21 than men who had no education [OR: 0.54, P < 0.01]. Rajasthan (51%) witnessed the highest percentage of early marriage among men, followed by Madhya Pradesh (50.4%) and Uttar Pradesh (49.1%). It was found that education, caste, residence, and wealth status explain nearly three-fourths of the observed inequality in the occurrence of early marriage among men. It is suggested that for reducing the incidences of early marriages among men requires confrontation of the barriers embedded in laws, policies, and in social norms and values. It would be appropriate for policy-makers to direct their efforts to specific regions and communities where the prevalence of early marriage among men is still higher and an accepted norm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]