We must bring
population growth to one per cent or lower
to stop population from soaring to 200 million or above within a couple of decades. But the prevalent practice of child marriage forms a formidable
barrier to that end
Scourge of child marriage
The prevalence of child marriage in our country continues to be high, with about 52.3 per cent of women between 20 and 24 years getting married before the age of 18, and 18.1 per cent getting married before 15 years, a survey conducted jointly by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) and UNICEF released on July 5 revealed this. For women of the age group 2-49 years, every three out of five women are married before the age of 18 (62.8 per cent), while almost one in four are married before the age of 15.
The above information is undoubtedly mind-boggling for an overpopulated country like Bangladesh because of the umbilical relationship between underaged marriage and population growth. Too young couples at the peak of their fertility tend to give birth freely and recklessly. Right after its independence the population of Bangladesh was 7.50 crore, which is about 17 crore now. If population goes on increasing in an unplanned way, it would very likely snap the balance between goods and services demanded by this burgeoning population and what would be actually
available. Policy planners of the country will not favour this kind of unbridled population growth in the interest of development.
The standard of living of the people of a country depends on the steady increasing of the per capita income. But this goal will remain unachieved in the context of Bangladesh if population growth continues in the present rate of some 1.38 per cent. Our population growth has decreased over the years but the decrease is not enough. We must bring population growth to one per cent or lower preferably to stop population from soaring to 200 million or above within a couple of decades. If this happens then this population will certainly cross the threshold of sustainability and the law of diminishing returns of economics will apply meaning that further production increases will not be possible despite use of additional production inputs. But there will be a far greater number of mouths to feed and take care in all respects at that time. In such a situation all our talks now about demographic dividends and making assets out of our big population will sound like useless clichs.
Sometime ago the ministry of womens affairs proposed lowering the minimum age of marriage for females from 18 to 16 years. The move has been opposed from different quarters and all think tanks and right groups in Bangladesh. It is likely that in the face of such rightful opposition, government may decide finally to maintain the minimum marriage age of girls at 18. But the 18 years cut off period was introduced by the British long ago when population size was not so much a problem. Considering that the procreation rate remains highest among teenagers at the peak of their fertility and that Bangladesh is a seriously overpopulated country now, our lawmakers would do best to raise the minimum age ceiling to at least 20 years.
