MC Analysis | Divorce turns more frequent, flattens rural-urban divide: Survey

More women are educated than before

More marriages are on the rocks in India than before, shows a survey, which also finds that divorce is no longer an urban phenomenon.

A Moneycontrol analysis of data from Periodic Labour Force Survey finds that more Indians are getting divorced now than seven years ago and the proportion of divorced or separated women in rural areas is on the rise.

In urban India, the ratio of divorced men has risen faster, from 0.3 percent in 2017-18 to 0.5 percent in 2023-24.  Among the women surveyed by PLFS in cities, 0.7 percent were divorced, compared with 0.6 percent seven years back.

Other PLFS findings

On the literacy front, the number of people with secondary education has declined in urban areas, while the count of higher qualification has increased noticeably.

India has more graduates than it did in 2017-18, and the ratio of women graduates has risen faster. The proportion of females with post-graduate or higher qualifications was higher than their male peers in urban areas in 2023-24.

The burden on the rural working-age population has risen. The ratio of dependent people, aged 0-14 and 65-plus, over the working-age population has risen in rural areas to 50.8 percent but declined for urban areas. Experts indicate this can be attributed to the migration of younger people to cities for better work opportunities.