The Determinants Of Underage Marriage In Nigeria

Abstract

This paper studies the structural/demographic determinants of early marriage in Nigeria. In order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal of “eliminated child marriage by year 2030”, governments will require thorough scientific data on the prevalence of child marriage in their countries and its structural determinants, to inform meaningful investment in program and policy responses. This study uses the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) 2018 data to determine the determinants of early child marriage in Nigeria. Using the logistic estimation technique, we find that links between community-level variables and early marriage formation show that neighborhood effects are very important. The results further confirm that region and place of residence, educational attainment and number of siblings play an important role in the demand for child brides. In addition, the major ethnicities in the Northern region have a higher prevalence of child brides than other ethnicities in Nigeria.