Peer-reviewed article
Why marry early? Parental influence, agency and gendered conflict in Tanzanian marriages
Jitihada Baraka, David W. Lawson, Susan Barris Schaffnit, Joyce Wamoyi, Mark Urassa ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examines why early marriage occurs in a Tanzanian community by interviewing parents, young women, and community members. Rather than being forced by parents seeking bridewealth, the research finds that early marriage is often a strategic choice by girls with limited options, motivated by desires for social and economic security. Men sometimes deceive young women about their intentions, and while parents may encourage early marriage for their daughters' security, forced marriage appears uncommon.
Key points
- Parents encouraged early marriage primarily to provide daughters with social and economic security, not mainly for bridewealth transfers
- Adolescent girls and young women were active agents in deciding to marry, sometimes going against parental wishes
- Forced marriage was found to be rare in this community
- Gendered conflict was more evident than parent-offspring conflict, with men misrepresenting their intentions to lure women into unstable relationships
- Early marriage appears rooted in limited options available to young women, who make strategic but risky choices
Limitations
This study is based on qualitative research in one urbanising Tanzanian community and may not generalise to other contexts or settings. The findings describe perceptions and motivations reported by community members rather than measuring outcomes of early marriage on children's well-being.
Abstract
Global health interventions increasingly target the abolishment of 'child marriage' (marriage under 18 years, hereafter referred to as 'early marriage'). Guided by human behavioural ecology theory, and drawing on focus groups and in-depth interviews in an urbanising Tanzanian community where female early marriage is normative, we examine the common assumption that it is driven by the interests and coercive actions of parents and/or men. We find limited support for parent-offspring conflict. Parents often encouraged early marriages, but were motivated by the promise of social and economic security for daughters, rather than bridewealth transfers alone. Moreover, forced marriage appears rare, and adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) were active agents in the transition to marriage, sometimes marrying against parental wishes. Support for gendered conflict was stronger. AGYW were described as being lured into unstable relationships by men misrepresenting their long-term intentions. Community members voiced concerns over these marriages. Overall, early marriage appears rooted in limited options, encouraging strategic, but risky choices on the marriage market. Our results highlight plurality and context dependency in drivers of early marriage, even within a single community. We conclude that engaging with the importance of context is fundamental in forging culturally sensitive policies and programs on early marriage.