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Measuring child marriage

Author

Listed:
  • Minh Cong Nguyen

    (World Bank)

  • Quentin Wodon

    (World Bank)

Abstract

Child or early marriage is recognized as an important development and human rights issue that affects girls especially in many developing countries. The practice has been linked to psychological, health, and education risks. These negative impacts explain why in many countries child marriage has been prohibited by law but often with little effect. While child marriage has been recognized as a major issue, its measurement has remained unsophisticated. Existing studies tend to simply report the incidence of child marriage, that is the share of girls who marry early within a population. Yet, the consequences of child marriage are not the same whether one marries at the age of 12 versus 18. Typically, the cost of child marriage for health, education, and well-being is much larger when the girl marries very early. This paper suggests that it would be straightforward to use the techniques of poverty measurement in order to provide richer information on the extent of child marriage, including its depth and severity apart from its incidence, and to test for the robustness of child marriage comparisons between groups or over time to the age threshold used to identify child marriage. An illustration is provided for Nigeria.

Suggested Citation

  • Minh Cong Nguyen & Quentin Wodon, 2012. "Measuring child marriage," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 32(1), pages 398-411.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-11-00616
    as

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    File URL: http://www.accessecon.com/Pubs/EB/2012/Volume32/EB-12-V32-I1-P36.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Elena Bardasi & Quentin Wodon, 2010. "Working Long Hours and Having No Choice: Time Poverty in Guinea," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(3), pages 45-78.
    2. Jean-Yves Duclos & Abdelkrim Araar, 2006. "Poverty and Equity," Economic Studies in Inequality, Social Exclusion, and Well-Being, Springer, number 978-0-387-33318-2, July.
    3. Erica Field & Attila Ambrus, 2008. "Early Marriage, Age of Menarche, and Female Schooling Attainment in Bangladesh," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 116(5), pages 881-930, October.
    4. Ambrus, Attila & Field, Erica, 2008. "Early Marriage, Age of Menarche, and Female Schooling Attainment in Bangladesh," Scholarly Articles 3200264, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    5. Azeema Faizunnisa & Minhaj Ul Haque, 2003. "Adolescent Reproductive Health: The Role of Agency and Autonomy," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 42(4), pages 569-583.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Child marriage; measurement; poverty analysis; Nigeria;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty

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