Child marriage in Brazil: an analysis from the National Health Survey

Abstract

This paper aims to characterize children and adolescents in a child marriage situation using data from the National Health Survey of 2013. The prevalence of child marriage (under 18 years old) was estimated according to socioeconomic, demographic, and health variables by three age categories (10-13; 14-15; 16-17 years). Prevalence ratios (PR) were estimated using Poisson regression. The prevalence of child marriage was 3.9% (n=1,168); 254 (1.8%) were under 14 years old, 285 (3.8%) were between 14 or 15 years old and 629 (8.1%) were between 16 and 17 years old. Higher probability of the outcome was observed among girls in the 14-15- and 16-17-years age groups compared to male, and those who did not attend school (observed in all age groups). Children living with four people were less likely to be in child marriage in the 14-15- and 16-17-years' age group compared to those who lived with one to two people. This study discusses the implications of the findings for preventing child marriage by focusing on gender inequalities and access to education and health services.