Early Marriage, Social Networks and the Transmission of Norms

Abstract

We investigate whether female early marriage is a conduit for the transmission of social norms, specifically norms relating to gender roles and rights within the household. We exploit differences in the age at menarche between sisters as an exogenous source of variation in marriage age. This approach allows us to control for beliefs and attitudes that are transmitted from parents to children. Using a sample of unmarried adolescents in Bangladesh, we first show that the timing of onset of menstruation has no direct effect on adolescent attitudes on attitudes towards gender norms. Yet we find that early marriage increases agreement with statements supportive of gender bias in the allocation of resources, and worsens the quality of a woman's post-marital social network. We also find evidence suggesting that schooling is a complement and the quality of the social network a substitute of later marriage in terms of their effects on attitudes towards traditional gender norms.

Age at Marriage and Women's Labour Market Outcomes in India

“…southern states), gender norms are supportive of women's outside employment. As noted previously, Asadullah and Wahhaj (2019) in a recent study present clear evidence that the practice of early marriage serves as a conduit for transmission of traditional norms discouraging female employment in Bangladesh. If the findings of this study are valid in context of India, it might be the case that in regions where gender norms discourage (are supportive of) women's work, early marriage might be negatively (positively) affecting female labour force participation and productivity.…”

“…Another concern is measurement error in the age at menarche (Asadullah & Wahhaj, 2019;Chari et al, 2017). While this is possible because it was self-reported by respondents at the time of the survey, Garg, Sharma and Sahay (2001) and Sharma, Vaid and Manhas (2006) note that menarche is a major event for girls in India, and girls of both low and high caste report knowing little or nothing about menstruation before it began but afterwards learning of taboos about eating and mobility during menstrual periods.…”

“…This might cause younger brides to focus more on home production and reduce their likelihood of participation and productivity in the labour market (Wang & Wang, ). Third, early marriage might serve as a conduit for transmission of traditional norms discouraging female employment (Asadullah & Wahhaj, ). This might adversely affect labour market outcomes of younger brides.…”

“…Asadullah and Wahhaj (2019) address the issue of omitted family characteristics by using sisters fixed effects and exploit only the variation in age of menarche between sisters. To the extent that sisters are raised within the same household by the same parents, this approach allows them to abstract away from variation in the age of menarche that is due to common environmental and socio-economic factors.…”

An economic model of early marriage

“…Therefore, ε f 2 is increasing in θ t−1 . Then, using equations (11) and (8), Assumption 3 and Lemma 4 that…”