Despite considerable social and economic progress in Bangladesh, child marriage remains the norm. The Population Council is partnering with UNFPA and the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs to empower girls with gender, life, and livelihood skills, and to engage communities to address fundamental normative drivers of child marriage. The objective of the baseline study is to generate a set of indicators against which change can be measured, and to provide specific information about the status of adolescents in the study area in ways that can guide intervention strategies and inform programs and policies. Baseline findings will provide a benchmark against which changes resulting from the intervention may be measured at the endline period and will identify themes in need of further exploration through qualitative research. Overall, the data reveal important contrasts in the social lives of adolescents by marital status, education, and age. The report notes several findings that may inform program strategies and are worth considering in the design of interventions.
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.
Sairana Ahsan, Shuchi Karim, Subas Chandra Biswas et al.
This paper examines the effects of environmental vulnerability on the risk of child marriage in Bangladesh. Community vulnerability measures are constructed for 240 rural communities in eight districts according to the presence of three indicators of environmental vulnerability—history of cyclones, flooding, and waterlogging. Community data are linked to individual-level adolescent survey data from a representative sample of 15,000 adolescent girls in those communities. Types of environmental vulnerability and the effect on adolescent girls’ marriage outcomes have been explored using discrete time survival analysis. Results show that coastal communities with prolonged waterlogging and salinity have significantly higher child marriage rates, and there is no evidence of higher risks of child marriage in flood-affected areas. The paper concludes that slow and rapid onset events vary in their impact on child marriage. It is important to distinguish between rapid onset factors, such as floods and cyclones, and slow and less dramatically visible factors, such as waterlogging, that affect marriage through longer-term impacts on lives and livelihoods. Programs need to cast a wider net to safeguard girls living in the communities not only where immediate and sudden environmental emergencies have occurred but also in the areas where climate-induced disasters may not seem very visible but have slow, cascading effects and pose a risk for child marriage.
Sigma Ainul, Jyotirmoy Saha, Sharif Hossain et al.
Child marriage is a public health concern that significantly affects the physical, mental, and social well-being of adolescent girls. While prevention strategies often target structural factors, such as poverty and education, they tend to overlook the psychological influences underlying early marriage decisions. This study explored child marriage from a health psychology perspective, using the theory of planned behavior (TPB) as the primary analytical framework. A narrative literature review was conducted by analyzing 26 peer-reviewed articles published from 2016 to 2025. The findings revealed that permissive attitudes toward early marriage, strong social pressure, and low perceived behavioral control are key contributors to the persistence of the child marriage phenomenon. The consequences include adolescent pregnancy, childbirth complications, gender-based violence, and mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety. These insights underscore the importance of TPB-based interventions aimed at reshaping attitudes, challenging social norms, and empowering girls with behavioral control. This review offers a foundation for developing more effective and context-sensitive strategies to prevent child marriage through a health psychology approach.
Abstract In Brazil, legal and political discussions on childhood and adolescence are usually guided by the ideal of pure, innocent, and vulnerable girlhood. This construction has historically served to both censor the exercise of child and adolescent sexual agency and legitimise the exclusion of unruly girls who do not correspond to the envisioned profile deemed worthy of protection. That is the case for Brazilian young wives, a large but invisible group of girls continuously neglected by child protection discourses, services, and policies in the country. This paper aims to introduce and explore the current scenario of child marriage in Brazil by overviewing the national legal norms surrounding the practice, summarizing two relevant locally produced qualitative pieces of research on the subject, carried out by Instituto Promundo and Plan International Brasil, analysing available national quantitative data on the extent and key characteristics of early marriage, specifically, IBGE’s 2010 Demographic Census and the 2021 Civil Registry Statistics, and problematising what is understood as young wives’ agency. Its main proposition is that a more nuanced, dynamic, and critical understanding of children’s agency is needed for truly comprehending the practice of child marriage in Brazil and developing public services and policies that both prevent it and aid young wives in their daily lives.
Abstract Objectives: This study assesses the prevalence of and risk factors for child marriage in Yemen, which was experiencing a nationwide conflict at the time of the study. Study Design: We conducted a survey of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and host communities using a stratified multistage cluster sampling design. Each household included an interview with a female adult (n=1210), a household roster (n=8400), and one female adolescent interview (n=1210). We used multivariate logistic regression to assess the association between child marriage and various risk factors. We also used data from focus groups (n=411) and key informant interviews (n=30) to explore community perspectives and understand contextual factors relating to child marriage. Results: Prevalence of child marriage among IDP females aged 10-19 was 18.1% compared to 12.7% among hosts. In the regression model, being older (aOR=1.95), never attending school (aOR=3.94), place of origin of Saada (aOR=4.41), and unemployment of the female adult (aOR=2.84) showed increased odds of child marriage. Head of household unemployment (aOR=0.58) and completed higher education (aOR=0.42) showed decreased odds. Qualitatively, economic factors were cited as central factors in decision-making, both for host communities and even more so for IDPs. Perceptions of marriage readiness and negative consequences of child marriage were dependent on gender normative expectations. Conclusions: Displaced girls experience child marriage more than boys or host girls . Displacement effects economic security and household power dynamics, which affects marriage decision-making and girl s ability to self-advocate. Efforts to address child marriage in Yemen should include livelihood support, with awareness and conflict management components that start in pre-adolescence and include married and unmarried girls.
Kara Hunersen, Bothaina Attal, Allison Jeffery et al.
BACKGROUND: Indonesia is eighth in the world in the incidence of child marriage, with South Sulawesi province having one of the highest burdens (12.1%) in the country. The study explored the determinants of child marriage in Bone, South Sulawesi, in particular the differences between adolescents and parents. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study using a quantitative survey. A total of 1,004 respondents participated (500 parents and 504 adolescents aged 13-15 years). FINDINGS: This study found that around one out of four parents or adolescents had perceptions that support determinants of child marriage. A total of 25.8% of parents and 26.0% of adolescents agreed that a girl is ready for marriage once she starts menstruation. 25.6% of parents and 32.6% of adolescents agreed that girls aged over 18 who are not married are a burden to their families. Using the U-Mann Whitney , Kendall's tau-b, and Pearson's correlation test, these differences were found to be significant. INTERPRETATION: Overall, the perceptions of parents and their adolescent children do not greatly differ, with some notable exceptions. Positive perceptions towards the benefits of child marriage are still prevalent among both parents and adolescents. This indicates that social norms supporting child marriage are still strong among these groups. Comprehensive interventions are needed to promote the benefits of marrying later, based on local cultural contexts and evidence on efficacy.
Heribertus Rinto Wibowo, Muliani Ratnaningsih, Nicholas J Goodwin et al.
Introduction: Early marriage occurs in many countries worldwide, especially in Indonesia, one of the ten countries with the highest number of child marriages under 18. Lack of knowledge about the impact of early marriage, poor socioeconomic level, culture, and family history of early marriage are influencing factors, so there is a need for an intensive program involving policymakers and empowering youth to reduce the incidence of early marriage. Therefore, the study aimed to determine the effect of the community skills building program (CSBP) on the tendency to early marriage in adolescent girls in Tasikmalaya.Methods: Research was quasi-experimental pre-post-test with a control group. The population is all adolescent girls in one of the public junior high schools in the city of Tasikmalaya, with a sample of 60 respondents who were selected using consecutive sampling. The inclusion criteria are adolescent girls aged 10-18 years, healthy and unmarried, for the exclusion criteria are adolescent girls who have moved domicile. Data retrieval using questionnaires on the tendency of early marriage contained 47 valid and reliable data. Data analysis used univariate and bivariate analysis with the Wilcoxon signed ranks test and Mann Whitney u test.Results: The results of data analysis showed that p-value 0.000 < p-value 0.05, which indicates a significant influence of the community skills building program (CSBP) on the tendency to early marriage in adolescent girls.Conclusions: It can be concluded that the application of the community skill-building program (CSBP) can reduce the tendency of early marriage in adolescent girls.
Novi Enis Rosuliana, Tetik Nurhayati, Dewi Aryanti et al.
BACKGROUND: Child marriage is a global crisis underpinned by gender inequality and discrimination against girls. A small evidence base suggests that food insecurity crises can be both a driver and a consequence of child marriage. However, these linkages are still ambiguous. This paper aims to understand how food insecurity influences child marriage practices in Chiredzi, Zimbabwe. METHODS: Mixed methods, including participant-led storytelling via SenseMaker® and key informant interviews, were employed to examine the relationship between food insecurity and child marriage within a broader context of gender and socio-economic inequality. We explored the extent to which food insecurity elevates adolescent girls' risk of child marriage; and how food insecurity influences child marriage decision-making among caregivers and adolescents. Key patterns that were generated by SenseMaker participants' interpretations of their own stories were visually identified in the meta-data, and then further analyzed. Semi-structured guides were used to facilitate key informant interviews. Interviews were audio-recorded, and transcribed and translated to English, then imported into NVivo for coding and thematic analysis. RESULTS: A total of 1,668 community members participated in SenseMaker data collection, while 22 staff participated in interviews. Overall, we found that food insecurity was a primary concern among community members. Food insecurity was found to be among the contextual factors of deprivation that influenced parents' and adolescent girls' decision making around child marriage. Parents often forced their daughters into marriage to relieve the household economic burden. At the same time, adolescents are initiating their own marriages due to limited alternative survival opportunities and within the restraints imposed by food insecurity, poverty, abuse in the home, and parental migration. COVID-19 and climate hazards exacerbated food insecurity and child marriage, while education may act as a modifier that reduces girls' risk of marriage. CONCLUSIONS: Our exploration of the associations between food insecurity and child marriage suggest that child marriage programming in humanitarian settings should be community-led and gender transformative to address the gender inequality that underpins child marriage and address the needs and priorities of adolescent girls. Further, programming must be responsive to the diverse risks and realities that adolescents face to address the intersecting levels of deprivation and elevate the capacities of adolescent girls, their families, and communities to prevent child marriage in food insecure settings.
Katherine Gambir, Abel Blessing Matsika, Anna Panagiotou et al.
Abstract Introduction This study evaluates the effects of a three-year conditional cash transfer program on educational outcomes and child marriage among Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian adolescent girls in Lebanon. Methods In the third year of the program, survey data were collected from households receiving a cash transfer conditional on adolescent girls’ school attendance and a comparison group of households. We conducted descriptive analysis and logistic regression models comparing outcomes, at endline, between girls in the intervention and comparison groups. Survey data on marriage and school dropout were also collected from all households of girls who were ever enrolled in the intervention or comparison groups over the three years of the program. Survival analysis was used to compare the transition to marriage and school dropout among girls who received cash transfers for different durations. Results Among year three participants, receiving cash transfers was associated with improved educational and attitudinal outcomes, but not reductions in early marriage. Comparing all program participants, receipt of two or more years of cash transfers was associated with significant reductions in the risk of early marriage but receipt of cash for one year only was not. Each additional year of cash receipt was associated with reductions in the risk of school dropout. Conclusion Our findings point to the promise of cash for education as an approach to improving school retention and reducing early marriage among adolescent girls in humanitarian settings, provided that cash transfers can be implemented for a sufficient duration of time. Implications and contributions This is one of the first studies to evaluate the impacts of a CCT program on early marriage in a humanitarian setting. Leveraging longitudinal data, our findings provide evidence on the promise of cash conditional on schooling to improve school retention and reduce early marriage among conflict-affected adolescent girls.
Shatha Elnakib, Maia Sieverding, Zeinab Kammouni et al.
