Page 40 - IJPS-11-3

International Journal of
Population Studies Marital dissolution in India

marital relations in the Indian context. Those who have prevalence among women who are more educated than
declared themselves as infecund had a higher prevalence their husbands or partners (2.7%) than those with lower
of marital dissolution (5.5%). Additionally, the prevalence levels of education relative to their husbands (1.3%). In
rate was 1.7% among those belonging to the poorest wealth addition, employed women are notably more likely to
index, while it was lowest for the richest wealth index experience divorce than those who are not. Interestingly,
(1.0%), although the range is minimal. Moreover, women agricultural workers (2.2% of respondents) appear to face
related to their first husband before marriage (1.41%) were a lower risk compared to women (3.9% of respondents)
comparatively less likely to experience marital dissolution employed in other service and industrial sectors. Regarding
than those who were not related. Lastly, the respondents the incidence of violence, women (0.7%) who have never
who were fully exposed to mass media (1.7%) exhibited a experienced any form of spousal violence, including
higher prevalence of marital dissolution compared to those physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, have reported much
not exposed to mass media at all. fewer incidents of marital dissolution than those who have
According to the state module of NFHS-5, we have (4%), representing a four-fold increase.
considered three key factors: the educational gap between The estimated prevalence of marital divorce in India and
spouses, the occupation of respondents (women), and its regional disparities are presented in Table 5. This table
instances of spousal violence to portray the coverage demonstrates that, in comparison to other regions, both the
of marital dissolution among ever-married women in southern and northeastern regions exhibit higher rates of
India (Table 4). The results revealed a significantly higher divorce and separation. Notably, women over the age of 35
are more common in the central region than in the northern
states (0.96%) when it comes to the prevalence of marital
separation, with a substantially higher frequency observed
among this age group in the northeastern regions (2.01%).
Across nearly every region, with the exception of the central
area, there is a trend of increased prevalence of marriage
dissolution as women age. Furthermore, women who entered
their first cohabitation before the age of 18 are substantially
more likely to experience divorce in the southern (2.54%)
and northeastern (2.23%) regions. In contrast to those
who had at least one or more boys, those who had never
had a son were more prone to marital dissolution, with this
Figure 3. Pattern of marital dissolution across birth cohorts of women
National Family Health Surveys (NFHS 2019 – 2021). Source: Computed frequency being particularly higher across western sections
from data of NFHS-5. (3.65%) compared to other regions. Regarding infertility,

Table 4. Prevalence of martial dissolution among ever‑married women of reproductive age group (15 – 49 years) by background
characteristics in India (NFHS 2019 – 2021)
Variables Divorced Separated Dissolved marriage n
Educational gap of spouses (n=76,878)
Husband higher than wife 0.35 0.98 1.33 23,303
Both at same level 0.46 1.15 1.61 41,985
Husband lower than wife 0.83 1.91 2.74 11,589
Women’s occupation (n=76,878)
Non-working 0.32 0.72 1.04 51,992
Agricultural 0.44 1.74 2.18 12,099
Non-agricultural 1.19 2.71 3.90 12,786
Ever experienced spousal violence (n=60,333)
No 0.27 0.47 0.74 41,299
Yes 1.08 2.93 4.01 19,033
Source: Computed from individual data of NFHS-5.
Abbreviation: NFHS-5: National Family Health Surveys.

Volume 11 Issue 3 (2025) 34 https://doi:10.36922/ijps.1681