MARITAL STATUS

In India marriage is early and universal. So at around the age of 15, girls start getting married. NFHS 3 (2005-06) data show that by the time they reach the age group of 25-29 the percentage of never married women drops to 5.8; and by the next age group 30-34 it drops to 1.8 percent. NFHS reported that for women in the age group 20-49, the average age of marriage is 17.2 years. Median age is 17.7. This means that more than half of the women are still marrying below the age of 18, the legal minimum age of marriage. Among men the percentage never married is found to be 29.4 in the age group 25-29, and 8.7 in 30-34. Then it drops to 3.0 in the age group 35-39, and further to 1.9 in 40-44.

CASTE /TRIBE

There is no authentic data on OBC population. NFHS 3 data provides useful information on this. The censuses give data on SC and ST only. NFHS 3 data shows that nearly 19 percent population of India belongs to SC, 8 percent to ST, 39 percent to OBC, and the rest to others.

WEALTH INDEX

FHS 3 data divides population in five categories according to wealth index. It shows that 27.7 percent rural population belongs to lowest quintile, 26.1 to second, 22.8 to middle, 16.0 to fourth and only 7.4 to highest quintile. This indicates the widespread urban-rural disparity in the country with only 7.4 percent of the rural population being in the highest wealth quintile according to national (i.e., combined urban-rural) standards of wealth. NFHS 3 data produces data on housing characteristics, specifically, type of house (kachcha, semi-pucca and pucca), persons per room and cooking fuel. It also gives data on household possessions, ownership of agricultural land, house and farm animals, and reach of media. For those pursuing work in structural characteristics of India 's population these data can be of immense use.