Adolescent Childbearing in India: Causes and Concerns

Abstract

Globally, adolescent pregnancy is one of the key issues in women’s reproductive health. Adolescent mothers face a higher risk of obstetrical concerns, and motherhood in adolescence is strongly influenced by lower education level and lower socioeconomic status. The present study was carried out across all Indian states and Union Territories using the National Family Health Survey, rounds 1 to 5 (1992–1993 to 2019–2021) in which various socioeconomic and cultural factors associated with adolescent pregnancies was examined in detail. The article uses univariate, bivariate with chi-square test, and multivariate logistic regression models to understand the extent of which socioeconomic factors and sexual behavior of the couple are related to early motherhood experiences. It was found that age at marriage, respondent education, employment, age gap between partners, and religion are some of the important variables that affect the likelihood of adolescent pregnancy among females in Indian states. Comprehensive institutional efforts like free contraceptives and counseling services should be provided to address the increasing risk of pregnancy among adolescents.

Keywords:

• Adolescence
• reproductive health
• pregnancy
• India

Acknowledgments

We thank the anonymous reviewers for their comments and feedback. We also thank Dr. Nassif Muhammed Ali for his support in finalizing the article.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data Availability Statement

The data used in this article are publicly available at https://dhsprogram.com/.