How the Decline of Arranged Marriages Helps the Fight Against Poverty
Girls wait to dance for the Zulu king at the Enyokeni Zulu royal palace in Nongoma, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, on Sunday, Sept. 9, 2007. Thousands of virgin girls attended the annual Reed Dance at the Enyokeni palace from which the Zulu King Zwelethini may choose a bride.
Greg Marinovich/Bloomberg NewsAmong the most wonderful advances in global development over the past few decades is the growing acceptance of a basic human right: the idea that marriage is a covenant made between consenting adults in love, rather than coerced children in fear. Around the world, the age of marriage is getting older, which means the number of child brides is dropping. This is fostering the happiness of married couples. It also suggests that millions of children can look forward to better futures.
According to official UN population data, more than seven out of 10 Bangladeshi women were married before the age of 19 in 1970. That figure has dropped to 45 percent. In India, the decline is from 56 percent in 1970 to 27 percent today. In Tanzania, the rate dropped from 50 percent to 17 percent, in Indonesia, from 32 percent to 14 percent. Survey data suggest higher numbers than the official statistics do, but the trend is still in the right direction. Globally, the proportion of young women who were married before the age of 18 has dropped from a third to a quarter since 1985, and the proportion married before 15 has declined from 12 percent to 8 percent over the same period, according to UNICEF (PDF).