The impact of girl child marriage on the completion of the first cycle of secondary education in Zimbabwe: A propensity score analysis

Abstract

Background The association between girl child marriage and education is widely acknowledged; however, there is no large body of demographic studies from Zimbabwe that have addressed this aspect. This study aimed to examine the extent to which child marriage affects one academic milestone, i.e. completion of the Ordinary Level, the first cycle of high school, which is also the most critical indicator of educational achievement in Zimbabwe. Methods We used the 2015 Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey and extracted 2380 cases of ever-married women aged between 20–29 years. We applied a propensity score-based method, which allowed us to mimic a hypothetical experiment and estimate outcomes between treated and untreated subjects. Results Our results suggest that child age at first marriage is concentrated between the ages of 15–22, with the typical age at first marriage being 18 years. Both logistic regression and PSM models revealed that early marriage decreased the chances of completing the first cycle of high school. Regression adjustment produced an estimate of prevalence ratio (PR) of 0.446 (95% CI: 0.374–0.532), while PSM resulted in an estimate (PR = 0.381; 95% CI: 0.298–0.488). Conclusion These results have implications for Zimbabwe’s development policy and suggest that girl-child marriage is a significant barrier to educational attainment. If not addressed, the country will most likely fail to meet sustainable development Goal 4.2 and 5.3. Social change interventions that target adults and counter beliefs about adolescent sexuality and prepubescent marriage should be put in place. Moreover, interventions that keep teenage girls in school beyond the first cycle of high school should be prioritised.

Prevalence and factors associated with child marriage, a systematic review

“…All included studies followed a cross-sectional design. About 47% ( n = 16) of studies relied on data from the National Survey and the Demographic Health Survey (DHS) [ 48 , 50 – 52 , 54 , 57 , 58 , 61 – 64 , 66 – 69 , 72 ].…”

“…Individual factors related to child marriage include the low education of respondents [ 38 – 45 , 48 – 50 , 52 – 54 , 56 – 63 , 65 , 66 , 68 – 70 , 72 ], unemployment of respondents [ 38 , 45 , 48 , 54 , 66 ], limited knowledge about the complexities of marriage, pregnancy, and marriage laws [ 38 , 43 , 49 , 62 , 65 ], and engaging in sexual activity before the age of 17 [ 64 , 66 ]. Interpersonal factors related to child marriage include the husband's low education [ 39 , 41 , 42 , 44 , 45 , 48 , 50 , 53 , 54 , 61 , 64 , 68 – 70 , 72 ], the husband's occupation as a worker or farmer [ 44 , 50 ], low parental education [ 41 , 42 , 47 , 53 , 59 , 65 ], parents working as farmers [ 47 , 56 ] or low-skilled jobs [ 41 , 42 ], having a family size of more than 5 [ 41 , 47 , 49 , 50 , 70 ], and belonging to a nuclear [ 45 ], or extended [ 42 ] family type., decision-making by parents [ 38 , 44 , 63 ,…”

“…Age of starting sex was associated with early marriage. Increased libido in young people around the world can possibly explain this issue [ 64 , 66 ].…”

Girls under surveillance: Engaging Zimbabwean parents on young people’s sexual health

“…For some girls, the stigma of pre-marital pregnancy necessitates kutizira or elopement with the father of the unborn baby (Bengesai et al, 2021). This is viewed negatively according to parents.…”

Reasons for early marriage of women in Zahedan, Iran: a qualitative study

“…Psychologically, early marriage is associated with an increased incidence of mood disorders such as depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and even suicide [23]. From the social perspective, early marriage can lead to early divorce, marital conflicts, spousal abuse, domestic violence, running away from home, infidelity and extramarital affairs, spousal homicide, illiteracy, insufficient development of social and marital skills, and finally social isolation [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35]. Marriage at a young age can also increase physical and sexual problems [36] and even sexual violence and forced sex [14,37].…”