Abstract
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. 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. 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). 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.
Highlights
Many countries globally have ratified the Convention of the Rights of the Child’s [1] definition that any human being below the age of 18 is a child, girl child marriage is still a common practice in many parts of the world, especially in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa [2]
Both logistic regression and propensity score matching (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, while PSM resulted in an estimate (PR = 0.381; 95% CI: 0.298– 0.488)
Summary
Many countries globally have ratified the Convention of the Rights of the Child’s [1] definition that any human being below the age of 18 is a child, girl child marriage is still a common practice in many parts of the world, especially in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa [2]. An estimated 39 000 child marriages occur every day [3], and if these trends persist, approximately150 million girls will be married off by 2030, many against their will [4]. Like in most other parts of Africa, Zimbabwe has a high prevalence of girl child marriage throughout its 10 provinces, despite the awareness campaigns held in the past few decades [7]. 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 the most critical indicator of educational achievement in Zimbabwe
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