Assessing the Impact of Legislative Intervention on Child Marriage in Bihar, India: Untying the Knots Between Law, Economics and Society

Child marriage across India has shown a declining tendency, however, the State of Bihar continues to exhibit this harmful practice at a staggering high percentage. It is considered as an economic solution to deal with the financial burden attached with the upbringing of a girl child. The author has used economic analysis of law to examine the efficacy and efficiency of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, in the state of Bihar. The study is based on secondary data available from National Family Health Survey-4 and NFHS-5, Census of India and Economic survey of Bihar. The use of descriptive and exploratory studies helped the author in yielding stimulative insights into the relationship between individual behaviour and social practices. Based on scientific and logical understanding, the study proves that a society would always prefer to choose, exercise and continue solemnising child marriage practices if the benefits (economic, social and psychological) of child marriage is higher than the opportunity cost of getting arrested and convicted under the law. The social benefits associated with child marriage for the poor, populous, patriarchal society like Bihar outweighs the social cost linked to the prohibition law.