Investigating the Major Influencing Factors of Early Marriage among Women in Bangladesh

Abstract

Purpose: Despite the fact that early marriage is considered a violation of human rights, in Bangladesh, a sizable portion of women get married before turning 18. The purpose of this study is to determine whether early marriage is influenced by women's preferences for the timing of their marriages as well as other socioeconomic factors in Bangladesh. Methodology: The Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) 2017–18 was utilized to collect the latest data for the study. The relationship between socioeconomic characteristics and early marriage among women was examined using a bivariate cross-tabulation and the chi-square test. Binary logistic regression was then executed. Findings: We discovered that women who wished to wed at the proper time tended to wed later rather than earlier. Additionally, partners' education levels are just as essential as women's education levels in preventing early marriage. Women who were employed before marriage and who were not Muslim tend to have fewer early marriages, necessitating government intervention to generate social awareness programs, create more opportunities for women to work, and build vocational training institutions in rural and urban areas. Practical Implications: Policies to lower the rate of early marriage among women in Bangladesh can be developed using the study's findings. Originaity/Value: The study includes some new variables and uses the latest dataset. This study also paves the way for doing further research by collecting some other variables that were not present in the dataset. Limitations: Due to data unavailability, analysis of certain variables' impact on marital age could not be done. Also, the dataset might have some underreporting errors.