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Will you marry me, later? Age-of-marriage laws and child marriage in Mexico

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  • Cristina Bellés-Obreroy
  • María Lombardi

Abstract

We provide empirical evidence on the impact of raising the minimum age of marriage to 18 years old on child marriage, early motherhood, and school enrollment in Mexico. Using a difference-in-differences model that takes advantage of the staggered adoption of this reform across states, we show that banning child marriage leads to a large and statistically significant reduction in the number of registered child marriages. However, we find no effect on school attendance or early fertility rates. We provide evidence that the mechanism behind these results is the substitution of formal marriage for informal unions. These findings suggest that when informal unions are a viable option for young couples, raising the minimum age of marriage is not enough to prevent early unions and their negative consequences.

Suggested Citation

  • Cristina Bellés-Obreroy & María Lombardi, 2020. "Will you marry me, later? Age-of-marriage laws and child marriage in Mexico," Department of Economics Working Papers wp_gob_2020_11, Universidad Torcuato Di Tella.
    • Handle: RePEc:udt:wpecon:wp_gob_2020_11
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    Cited by:

    1. Lisa Cameron & Diana Contreras Suarez & Susan Wieczkiewicz, 2023. "Child marriage: using the Indonesian family life survey to examine the lives of women and men who married at an early age," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 725-756, September.
    2. Amirapu, Amrit & Asadullah, Niaz & Wahhaj, Zaki, 2024. "Can the Law Affect Attitudes and Behaviour in the Absence of Strict Enforcement? Experimental Evidence from a Child Marriage Reform in Bangladesh," IZA Discussion Papers 17410, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Amirapu, Amrit & Asadullah, M Niaz & Wahhaj, Zaki, 2022. "Can Child Marriage Law Affect Attitudes and Behaviour in the Absence of Strict Enforcement? Experimental Evidence from Bangladesh," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1107, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    4. Jorge Garcia-Hombrados, 2022. "Child marriage and infant mortality: causal evidence from Ethiopia," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 35(3), pages 1163-1223, July.
    5. Rokicki, Slawa, 2021. "Impact of family law reform on adolescent reproductive health in Ethiopia: A quasi-experimental study," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    6. Collin, Matthew & Talbot, Theodore, 2023. "Are age-of-marriage laws enforced? Evidence from developing countries," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    child marriage; marriage laws; fertility; schooling;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • K36 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Family and Personal Law
    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General

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