Beyond the Marriage: Inequality of Age at First Sex Among the Youth in India—Recent Evidenced from NFHS-5

The early age of first sexual intercourse is a major public health issue, and multiple sexual partners influence women’s reproductive health, which is now common in developing countries. This study aimed to identify inequality of age at first sex between the men and women youth in India.

The present study used data from the fifth round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) which was conducted in 2019–2021. The multivariate logistic regression and concentration index were used to assess the statistical association between explanatory variables and age at first sex inequality among the youth. Fairlie decomposition technique was used to explain the factors that affected inequalities in age at first sex between men and women youth.

The findings of the study indicate that the inequality of age at first sex was higher among the male youth than the females. Multivariate analysis shows that residence, education, religion, and mass media such as watching television, reading newspapers, and using the internet were major controlling factors of early age at first sex. Urban residence (CI = 0.062), higher education (CI = 0.110), Muslim religion (CI = 0.135), and richest wealth (CI = 0.045) jointly explained a statistical inequality in early age first sex between women and men youth. About 69.5% of this gap was explained by unequal distribution of religion (47.0%), wealth status (11.12%), caste (6.89%), and using the internet (5.01%) between men and women youth.

The study concludes that early age at sex inequality between men and women favored women youth. The program is designed to address the reduction of early sexual debut, create equitable socialization patterns, and develop a supportive environment for free interaction between both son and daughter with their parents in their adolescent sexual behavior.