Understanding the role of child marriage on reproductive health outcomes: evidence from a multi-country study in South Asia Deepali Godha, David Hotchkiss, and Anastasia Gage Tulane University
Feb 14, 2016
Understanding the role of child marriage on reproductive health
outcomes: evidence from a multi-country study in South Asia
Deepali Godha, David Hotchkiss, and Anastasia Gage
Tulane University
Background Child marriage remains a pervasive problem in South Asia and
sub-Saharan Africa
Increasingly recognized as a violation of human rights
Previous research has associated child marriage with a number of adverse health and social outcomes
But most studies to date have focused on India – very little research in other countries
Purpose of study To assess the association of child marriage and
reproductive health outcomes in four South Asian countries after controlling for individual-, and household- level factors
Prevalence of child marriage in South Asia is high Among currently married women 20 to 24 years of age, percent
married prior to age 15 ranged from 10 percent in Nepal to 38 percent in Bangladesh.
Data Most recent Demographic and Health Surveys in four
countries India (2005/6) Bangladesh (2007) Nepal (2006) Pakistan (2006/7)
Sample: Ever-married women 20-24 years of age Sample size ranged from 1,546 in Pakistan to 22,807 in India
Methods (1) Dependent variables
Fertility Early fertility – childbirth within the first year of marriage Multiple unwanted pregnancies Having had at least one pregnancy termination Having had at least one unwanted pregnancy
Fertility control Lack of fertility control prior to the first birth Low lifetime fertility control – history of rapid repeat childbirth
Maternal health care utilization
Methods (2) Independent variables
Age at marriage dummy variables Married at 14 years of age or younger Married at 15 to 17 years of age
Other individual- and household-characteristics
Statistical methods Logistic regression models to examine the association between
various outcome variables and age of marriage Unit of analysis is individual woman
Descriptive results
Characteristic India Bangladesh Nepal Pakistan
Total married 17 years of age or younger
58.9 77.2 62.5 50.3
- Married 15-17 years of age
41.6 39.3 50.0 36.3
- Married 14 years of age or younger
17.3 37.9 12.5 14.0
Husband older by 10 years of age or more
14.3 41.1 8.8 19.4
Primary or no education 54.5 46.7 64.6 78.4
Percent of women married as children ranges from 50% to 77%
Descriptive results
Characteristic India Bangladesh Nepal Pakistan
Fertility
Early fertility 19.9 19.2 16.5 18.7
Pregnancy termination 15.3 14.1 13.3 17.6
Unwanted pregnancy 15.2 19.8 24.0 13.9
Multiple unwanted pregnancy 3.1 1.7 3.1 4.0
Fertility control
Lack of fertility control prior to 1st birth
90.8 67.6 82.8 NA
Low lifetime fertility control 23.0 14.8 21.5 30.8
Percent of women with various fertility and fertility control outcomes
Logistic regression results
Characteristic India Nepal
Married ≤ 14 Married 15-17 Married ≤ 14 Married 15-17
Fertility
Early fertility 0.9 1.0 0.6 0.8
Pregnancy termination 1.6 1.4 2.3 2.3
Unwanted pregnancy 1.6 1.7 1.9 1.5
Multiple unwanted pregnancy 2.5 2.3 3.7 1.6
Fertility control
Lack of fertility control prior to 1st birth 1.7 1.3 2.2 2.5
Low lifetime fertility control 3.8 2.6 4.5 3.4
Odds ratios: comparison group is women married at 18 years and older
Blue font indicates statistical
significance (p<0.05)
Logistic regression results
Characteristic Bangladesh Pakistan
Married ≤ 14 Married 15-17 Married ≤ 14 Married 15-17
Fertility
Early fertility 1.0 0.9
Pregnancy termination 4.5 3.4 2.2 1.9
Unwanted pregnancy 1.1 1.2 2.9 3.8
Multiple unwanted pregnancy 4.7 4.1 24.2 18.2
Fertility control
Lack of fertility control prior to 1st birth
1.5 1.1 NA NA
Low lifetime fertility control 5.9 3.7 8.3 5.7
Odds ratios: comparison group is women married at 18 years and older
Blue font indicates statistical
significance (p<0.05)
Conclusions In South Asia, child marriage is significantly associated with many
negative fertility and fertility control outcomes (and maternal health care utilization)
Women married in early adolescence show a higher propensity towards most negative outcomes than women married in middle adolescence
Child marriage adds a layer of vulnerability to women that leads to poor fertility control and fertility related outcomes
Limitations Outcomes are self-reported: may be prone to bias
Data are cross-sectional: difficult to attribute causality
High odds ratios and wide confidence intervals may be an indication of small cell sizes or small probabilities
Cannot distinguish between natural and induced pregnancy termination
MEASURE Evaluation PRH is a MEASURE project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through Cooperative Agreement GHA-A-00-08-00003-00 and is implemented by the Carolina Population Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partnership with Futures Group International, Management Sciences for Health, and Tulane University. Views expressed in this presentation do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the U.S. Government. MEASURE Evaluation PRH supports improvements in monitoring and evaluation in population, health and nutrition worldwide.