Increases in child marriage among the poorest in Mali: 'reverse policies' or data quality issues?
Batyra, Ewa (Centre d'Estudis Demogràfics)
Pesando, Luca Maria (New York University Abu Dhabi)

Date:	2023
Abstract:	Child marriage is associated with adverse outcomes related to women's well-being. Many countries have introduced laws banning this practice, and a number of studies have evaluated their impact. Scant research has focused on instances where countries have lowered the legal minimum age at marriage, even though such 'reverse policies' could result in stalled or uneven progress in eradicating child marriage. Using visualization techniques, regression analyses, and multiple robustness checks, we document changes in the prevalence of child marriage in Mali, where in 2011 the general minimum age at marriage of 18 was lowered to 16. Since 2011, the prevalence of child marriage has progressively increased among women with no education and women living in communities characterized by low local development. We reflect on the role that data collection processes may play in explaining some of these findings and stress how repealing existing provisions aiming to protect girls can have adverse consequences on the most vulnerable social strata.
Grants:	European Commission. Horizon 2020 STG-GA948557 Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación FJC2019-040652-I Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades RTI2018-096730-BI00
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Child marriage ; Policies and laws ; Education ; Data quality ; SDGs ; Mali
Published in:	Population Studies, April 2023, ISSN 1477-4747

DOI: 10.1080/00324728.2023.2181383

21 p, 4.2 MB

The record appears in these collections:
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Social and Legal Sciences > Centre for Demographic Studies (CED-CERCA)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles