Peer-reviewed article
Child Marriage and Adolescent Motherhood: A Nationwide Vulnerability for Women in Bangladesh
Jahar Bhowmik, Raaj Kishore Biswas, Sorif Hossain ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study analyzed data from over 15,000 women in Bangladesh and found that 82.5% were married before age 18 and 61.8% gave birth before age 18. Higher education significantly reduced the risk of both child marriage and adolescent motherhood. Women who married as children or became adolescent mothers were much less likely to continue their education after marriage. The findings highlight that education and social norms, particularly those shaped by religious beliefs in rural areas, are key factors in the prevalence of child marriage.
Key points
- 82.5% of women were married before age 18, and 43.1% were married before age 15 in Bangladesh
- Girls with secondary education were 32% less likely to marry before 18; those with higher secondary or above education were 87% less likely
- Girls with secondary education were 21% less likely to become adolescent mothers; those with higher education were 83% less likely
- Women married in childhood were 36% less likely to continue studies after marriage; adolescent mothers were 55% less likely
- Women who experienced child marriage or adolescent motherhood expressed preference for late marriage
Limitations
This is a cross-sectional analysis and cannot establish causality between education and child marriage outcomes. The study does not evaluate an intervention or provide information about the mechanisms through which education influences these practices, or about effectiveness of specific programs to prevent child marriage.
Abstract
The persistently high prevalence of girl-child marriage and adolescent motherhood is a public health concern in Bangladesh. This study investigated the division-wise prevalence and the influence of education and religious affiliation on child marriage and adolescent motherhood among women in Bangladesh along with their consequences using 15,474 women aged 15-49 years from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2017-18. Staggeringly, 82.5% women were married before 18, 43.1% were married before 15, and 61.8% gave birth before 18 years of age. Binary logistic regression models for the complex survey showed that girl-children with primary, secondary, and higher secondary or above education were 16% (95% CI: 0.69, 1.03), 32% (95% CI: 0.55, 0.84), and 87% (95% CI: 0.10, 0.17) less likely to get married <18 years of age, respectively, compared to the uneducated. Also, girl-children with secondary and higher education were 21 and 83% less likely to become adolescent mothers, respectively, than the uneducated. Women married during childhood (<18 years) and adolescent mothers were 36 and 55% less likely to continue studies after marriage, respectively, and expressed that they significantly preferred a late marriage. Policy interventions need to address culturally-laden social norms influenced by religious-related beliefs, especially in rural areas.