KATHMANDU, Aug 25: The Census Nepal, 2078 statistical report on children shows that around 74,272 people got married between the ages of 10 and 17 in the year of 2021. This indicates the seriousness of the child marriage problem in Nepal.
The report reveals that half of those who got married before the age of 17 are from rural areas, while the remaining children are living in semi-urban and urban areas.
Based on the numbers, the highest number of child marriage problem was reported in Madhesh Province, with 16,347 children found to be married under the age of 17. Lumbini Province followed with 13,738 child marriage cases.
Among the total number of married people, Karnali had the highest ratio of child marriages, with 2.62 percent, while Gandaki stood at 1.87 percent. Out of those married as children, 534 are currently single, 107 are divorced, and 222 are separated.
Worth of stories
According to the age at marriage question asked of married children aged 20 to 24 in the census, 14.1 percent of respondents reported that they had married before reaching the age of 18, while 21.9 percent of the respondents were girls. This shows that one in five girls was married before reaching the age of 18.
The report indicates that children born in poor families get married at a younger age. Similarly, 20.8 percent of children from very poor families get married before the age of 18, whereas only 4.9 percent of children from very wealthy families marry before reaching 18.
The report shows that the annual growth rate of children in Nepal is negative. Over the decade from 2012 to 2022, the number of children aged (0-17) in Nepal has decreased by 511,000 compared to the previous decade.
In the year 2022, the number of children in the country was only 98,69,000. A decade ago it was 11.84 million, which shows the number of children has decreased by 10.9 percent in a decade. Annually such growth rate is negative at 1.1 percent.
Among the children, the growth rate of girls has also decreased further. In a decade, the numerical growth rate of boys is negative at 9.1 percent, while the growth rate of girls is negative at 12.9 percent. This indicates a decline in the birth rate of girls. In particular, this may be due to the tendency of parents to identify the gender before birth and selectively choose to give birth to boys.
The Census Nepal 2078 has already shown that the annual population growth rate is limited to 0.92 percent due to the decrease in the birth rate. Due to the low birth rate, the ratio of children in the total population is also decreasing. In 2012, the ratio of children in the total population was 41.8 percent, but now it stands at only 33.8 percent.
The report shows that 5.3 percent of children in Nepal have never seen a school, and 5.4 percent of children have never seen a college. Similarly, the report indicates that there are 1.2 percent children with disabilities across the country.
