Early Marriage, Cohabitation, and Childbearing in West Africa

Joint Authors

Avogo, Winfred A.
Somefun, Oluwaseyi D.

Source

Journal of Environmental and Public Health

Issue

Vol. 2019, Issue 2019 (31 Dec. 2019), pp.1-10, 10 p.

Publisher

Hindawi Publishing Corporation

Publication Date

2019-06-13

Country of Publication

Egypt

No. of Pages

10

Main Subjects

Public Health
Medicine

Abstract EN

The prevalence of child marriage in West Africa is one of the highest in the global south.

Yet, much of what we know about the harmful effects of early marriage and why it persists comes from research on South Asia.

Adopting life course family development perspectives on adolescent sexuality, we examine the linkages between the timing of union formation and childbearing across multiple countries with high rates of child marriage.

Using the latest round of data from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), we find that by age 18, 28 percent of adolescents in Nigeria, 25 percent in Burkina Faso, and as high as 60 percent in Niger are in a union, whilst 13 percent of Nigerian adolescents, 12 percent in Burkina Faso, and 27 percent in Niger have had a first birth.

The results demonstrate that, net of individual characteristics, community variables are strong predictors of union formation and childbearing.

Individual characteristics such as women’s education, economic status of households, and residing in female-headed households and rural areas are other salient determinants of adolescent family transitions.

We discuss the findings in the context of revamping stalled fertility transitions and the post-2015 framework for development in sub-Saharan Africa.

American Psychological Association (APA)

Avogo, Winfred A.& Somefun, Oluwaseyi D.. 2019. Early Marriage, Cohabitation, and Childbearing in West Africa. Journal of Environmental and Public Health،Vol. 2019, no. 2019, pp.1-10.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-1174186

Modern Language Association (MLA)

Avogo, Winfred A.& Somefun, Oluwaseyi D.. Early Marriage, Cohabitation, and Childbearing in West Africa. Journal of Environmental and Public Health No. 2019 (2019), pp.1-10.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-1174186

American Medical Association (AMA)

Avogo, Winfred A.& Somefun, Oluwaseyi D.. Early Marriage, Cohabitation, and Childbearing in West Africa. Journal of Environmental and Public Health. 2019. Vol. 2019, no. 2019, pp.1-10.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-1174186

Data Type

Journal Articles

Language

English

Notes

Includes bibliographical references

Record ID

BIM-1174186