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Divorce in a rural north indian area: Evidence from Himachali village
Citation
Mohan Singh. (1997, October 11-17). Divorce in a rural north Indian area: Evidence from Himachali village [Paper presentation]. International Population Conference, Beijing, China.
Author
Mohan Singh
Abstract
Contrary to the existing belief in the rare occurrence of divorce in Indian society, particularly among the Hindus, the evidence from ten villages in Himachal Pradesh suggested that the incidence of divorce was comparable to the present-day levels in Western society. However, the factors responsible for high levels of divorce in Western society did not explain the prevalence of divorce in Himachal Pradesh. The main reasons for divorce were sexual maladjustment between spouses caused by early marriages of girls and large differences in ages of spouses. Therefore the mechanism that explains divorce in Indian situation is different from the one in the west. The study found that as the age at marriage increased and passed the average age of menarche, the level of divorce decreased. Differences in age of spouse, educational achievements of women and their husband and their caste also explained the variability in the incidence of divorce.
Date Issued
1997
Description
This paper was presented at the International Population Conference, held in Beijing, China from 11 - 17 Oct 1997