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Drivers of child marriages for girls: A prospective study in a low-income African set.
- Source :
- Global Public Health; Jan2024, Vol. 19 Issue 1, p1-15, 15p
- Publication Year :
- 2024
-
Abstract
- Child marriage has adverse consequences for young girls. Cross-sectional research has highlighted several potential drivers of early marriage. We analyse drivers of child marriage using longitudinal data from rural Malawi, where rates of child marriage are among the highest in the world despite being illegal. Estimates from survival models show that 26% of girls in our sample marry before age 18. Importantly, girls report high decision-making autonomy vis-à-vis the decision to marry. We use multivariate Cox proportional hazard models to explore the role of 1) poverty and economic factors, 2) opportunity or alternatives to marriage, 3) social norms and attitudes, 4) knowledge of the law and 5) girls’ agency. Only three factors are consistently associated with child marriage. First, related to opportunities outside marriage, girls lagging in school at survey baseline have significantly higher rates of child marriage than their counterparts who were at or near grade level. Second, related to social norms, child marriage rates are significantly lower among respondents whose caregivers perceive that members of their community disapprove of child marriage. Third, knowledge of the law has a positive coefficient, a surprising result. These findings are aligned with the growing qualitative literature describing contexts where adolescent girls are more active agents in child marriages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- MARRIAGE law
CROSS-sectional method
MARRIAGE
RESEARCH funding
SOCIOECONOMIC factors
INTERVIEWING
DESCRIPTIVE statistics
DECISION making
MULTIVARIATE analysis
SOCIAL norms
LONGITUDINAL method
SOCIAL attitudes
KAPLAN-Meier estimator
RURAL conditions
ECONOMIC impact
CONCEPTUAL structures
RESEARCH methodology
WOMEN'S health
POVERTY
PROPORTIONAL hazards models
ADOLESCENCE
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 17441692
- Volume :
- 19
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- Global Public Health
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 177636924
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2024.2335356