Peer-reviewed article
Knotted Realities: Understanding What Delays Early and Child Marriage for Girls in Urban Slums of Bangladesh
Sairana Ahsan, Shuchi Karim, Subas Chandra Biswas, Sabina Faiz Rashid ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study explores why some girls in urban slums of Bangladesh delay marriage beyond age 18, contrary to the country's high rates of early and child marriage. Researchers conducted interviews with 14 girls who delayed marriage and focus group discussions with 104 adolescent girls aged 13-24 in Dhaka and Chattogram. The main reasons for delayed marriage were poverty, inability to pay dowry, family care responsibilities, and access to family support for education.
Key points
- Poverty and the inability to pay dowry for girls perceived as older delays marriage
- Girls' obligations to care for their families can postpone marriage
- Positive family support, particularly in better-off households, enables girls to pursue education instead of early marriage
- Bangladesh has the fourth-highest prevalence of early and child marriage globally, though rates have declined slightly
Limitations
The study is qualitative and based on a small sample from only two urban slums, so findings may not be generalisable to rural areas or other urban contexts in Bangladesh or beyond. The research does not provide quantitative data on the prevalence of delayed marriage or measure long-term outcomes for girls who delay marriage.
Abstract
Bangladesh has the fourth-highest prevalence of early and child marriage in the world. This trend has declined slightly over the years, but there is a dearth of research regarding underlying reasons. This article explores the phenomenon of delayed marriage for women in the context of understudied urban slums, and seeks to understand both why it happens and its consequences. The article uses data from 14 in-depth interviews (IDI) of girls who delayed their marriage beyond their 18th year, and two focus group discussions (FGD) with adolescent girls and young women aged between 13-24 years from a larger mixed-methods study conducted in two slums of the cities of Dhaka and Chattogram. Findings reveal that the key reasons for delaying marriage are poverty, inability to pay dowry for girls perceived as older, and the pressing obligations faced by young girls in having to take care of their families. It was also found that positive family support, mostly among better-off families, allows some girls pursue education rather than be married off at an early age.