Case Study On Inter Caste Marriage in Urban and Rural Areas of Andhrapradesh: Patterns and Causes Faced By Women

Abstract

In India all caste groups are thought to share an equally strong preference for endogamy. Through a field experiment in the arranged-marriage market involving 1070 women participants, conducted across multiple matrimonial websites, we compare the revealed preferences for inter caste of Upper-Castes (“ucs”) and Scheduled-Castes (“scs”), two groups situated at the opposite ends of a ranked social order. We find that 70.7% of scs, but only 53.9% of ucs express an interest in inter caste for marriage. We also find that, among ucs, Socioeconomic (“SE”) status is inversely related to boundary-crossing preference, while among Scs the opposite is true. These two systems create water tight compartment between communities and bring division, hatred and tension among various social groups. Marriages within the same caste and same religion are the norm of the Indian society. To think of marriages between different castes and different religions is a difficult and socially unacceptable proposition. Recently the process of modernization, democratization and development has brought lots of positive changes in Indian society. The major objectives of the present paper are to understand the spatial patterns and determinants of inter-caste Marriages in India. The study uses the data of third round of National Family Health Survey (2013 – 15) having sample size of 43102 ever married couples. It is found that about 10 percent of the total marriages in India take place between different castes while Only 2.1 percent marriages are inter-religious.