Knowledge Brief Health, Nutrition and Population Global Practice BASIC PROFILE OF CHILD MARRIAGE IN CHAD Chata Malé and Quentin Wodon March 2016 Child Marriage Series with Education Global Practice KEY MESSAGES:  Measures of child marriage are very high in Chad. The share of women ages 18-22 who married as children is 68.7 percent and it has not decreased much over time. The share of girls marrying very early, before the age of 15, has declined, but only slightly.  Child marriage is associated with lower wealth, lower education levels, and higher labor force participation. These are however only correlations, not necessarily causal effects. In order to design programs and policies to reduce child Box 1: Brief and Series Primer marriage, information is needed on the trend in the How is child marriage defined? Child marriage is defined as a practice over time, where it is most prevalent in a country, marriage or union taking place before the age of 18. and what the characteristics of girls marrying early are. Why a series on child marriage? Child marriage has Measuring child marriage is needed to inform policy. significant negative impacts – not only for girls, but also for a range of development outcomes. Demonstrating these impacts Child marriage is recognized as a major development will assist governments and others to make the case for intervening to reduce the practice. issue that affects girls in many developing countries. The practice has been linked to a number of health risks, What are the topics discussed in the series? The series higher fertility, and lower education attainment, among looks at the impacts of child marriage on health, population, others. The negative impact of child marriage on a wide education, employment, agency, and violence, among other range of development outcomes explains why in many outcomes. The welfare, budget, and non-monetary costs of child countries child marriage is now prohibited by law, and marriage are estimated. Legal/institutional aspects and options why the elimination of child marriage is part of the new to reduce the practice are also discussed. Sustainable Development Goals. Yet more is needed to eliminate the practice than adopting laws. In order to What is the question asked in this brief? The question is: How widespread is the practice, not only in terms of the share of inform program and policies to reduce the practice, this girls marrying early, but also in terms of how early they marry? brief provides a basic profile of child marriage in Chad. The brief is part of a series of standardized briefs on this How is the question answered? Measures and a profile of topic for several countries. child marriage inspired by the literature on poverty are provided. Page 1 HNPGP Knowledge Brief  More than two thirds of women in Chad marry early. education attainment. This will not only limit her employment and earnings potential for the rest of her life, The analysis is based on data from the 2004 but it will also have other negative consequences for her Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) for Chad (unit as well as for her children. level data from the 2014 survey were not yet available for analysis at the time of writing). While this dataset is older Most studies on child marriage report the incidence of than those available for other countries, it still provides child marriage - the share of girls who marry early (before valuable insights. Table 1 provides basic statistics on the 18), sometimes also with the share of girls who marry age at first marriage for women. Two samples are very early, before age 15. Such statistics are useful, but considered: women ages 18 to 22, which is the youngest they do not capture the “depth” and “severity” of the age group that can be used to measure child marriage in practice very well. Better measures of child marriage can the country1, and women ages 18-49 (the women’s be adopted from the poverty literature (Ngyuen and questionnaire in the DHS collects data for women up to Wodon (2012). Three measures are used here: the age 49). Clearly, a large share of women marry below the incidence of child marriage or headcount index, the child age of 18, and many do so before the age of 15, but there marriage gap, and the squared child marriage gap. are few differences in the likelihood of marrying as Definitions of these measures is provided in the annex. children between the two groups. This suggests that child The measures are estimated for child marriage as well as marriage may not have decreased much over time. very early marriage defined as marrying before age 15. Table 1: Age at First Marriage for Women (%) The child marriage gap represents the “depth” of child 18-22 years 18-49 years marriage. It takes into account not only the share of girls Not Married 17.9 5.2 who marry early, but also the mean number of years of 18 or Above 13.4 23.0 early marriage. When using the child marriage gap for the Below 12 2.0 2.7 evaluation of programs or policies, instead of simply 12 4.2 4.9 looking at the share of the girls who marry early, more 13 11.3 10.1 14 12.9 15.6 weight is placed on the girls who marry at a very young 15 14.5 17.4 age. While the child marriage gap takes into account the 16 13.3 12.0 average number of years of early marriage for girls who 17 10.5 9.1 marry early, the squared gap takes into account the Total 100.0 100.0 square of that number, thereby putting even more Mean age at first marriage 15.3 15.9 emphasis on girls who marry very early and taking into Source: Authors’ estimation. account inequality in the age of marriage among girls marrying early. The consequences of child marriage are not the same whether girls marry at 12 or 17. Measures inspired from The incidence of child marriage in Chad in 2004 was fairly the poverty literature help in capturing better how early similar to that observed 25 years ago. There has been girls marry (see the annex). The headcount (H) measures only a very small reduction in how early girls marry. the share of girls who marry early. The child marriage gap (CMG) measures the “depth” of the practice, taking into Child marriage has not been reduced much over time. account how early girls marry. The squared gap (SG) puts even more weight on the girls who marry very early. Table 2 provides trends over time in the measures of child marriage inspired by the poverty literature. Consider first Beyond the share of girls who marry early, other the age group 18-22. In that age group more than two measures of child marriage are also important. thirds marry before the age of 18 (68.7 percent for the 18- 22 age group). The child marriage gap (CMG) is at 12.8 The negative impact of child marriage for a girl’s health, percent and the squared gap (SG) at 3.0 percent for that education, and well-being is often larger when the girl group. By estimating the same measures on older groups, marries very early. For example, child marriage is known the table provides the trend in child marriage over time. to have a negative impact on school enrollment and When considering the 18 years threshold, there has been attainment. The earlier a girl marries, the more likely it is virtually no in the headcount, and other measures suggest that she will drop out early and thereby have a low level of only small reductions in child marriage. 1 There is though some indications that girls who marry Child marriage measures must be estimated on the population older than 18, because some younger girls not yet married in the early may marry slightly less early, as evident from survey could still get married by age 18. It is best to measure estimates based on the 15 years age threshold which child marriage as early as possible after the age of 18 to provide suggest a slight decline in the headcount for those data on conditions as current as possible, which is why the age measures. Overall, the share of girls marrying as children bracket 18-22 is used here. Page 2 HNPGP Knowledge Brief  has decreased by only one percentage points over the to richest. For most women the level of wealth observed is last 25 years (the approximate time gap between the first that of the household in which they married, not their and last age group), and the decline for extreme child household or origin, but it is likely that many women marry marriage (15 years threshold), while larger, is still limited, with men who have similar socio-economic profiles, so the at three percentage points2. quintile after marriage may not be that different from the quintile before. Also, for younger women, assets and Table 2: Trend in Child and Very Early Marriage (%) wealth may be lower than for older women. In Chad, the 18 years 15 years measures of child marriage do not differ much between H CMG SG H CMG SG the four bottom quintiles. It is only in the top quintile of All 18-49 years 71.8 13.8 3.3 33.2 4.2 0.7 wealth that child marriage is (slightly) less prevalent. Age group 18-22 years 68.7 12.8 3.0 30.5 3.9 0.6 Table 4: Child Marriage by Quintile, Age 18-22 (%) 23-30 years 73.5 14.2 3.3 33.5 4.3 0.7 18 years 15 years 31-40 years 73.8 14.4 3.4 35.1 4.5 0.8 41-49 years 69.7 13.6 3.2 33.9 4.2 0.7 H CMG SG H CMG SG Source: Authors’ estimation. All 18-22 years 68.7 12.8 3.0 30.5 3.9 0.6 Wealth quintiles Poorest 69.7 12.8 2.9 31.6 3.9 0.6 Girls are more likely to marry early if they live in rural Poorer 68.2 13.3 3.1 32.3 4.1 0.6 areas and are from poorer socio-economic groups. Middle 76.8 13.5 3.0 31.7 3.8 0.6 Richer 68.6 13.6 3.4 33.2 4.5 0.9 Child marriage is more prevalent in rural than in urban Richest 61.9 10.8 2.5 24.3 3.1 0.5 areas. There are also differences between regions, with Source: Authors’ estimation. the lowest measures observed in the Moyen Chari region and the highest measures observed (according to the Child marriage is associated with lower education headcount index for the 18 years threshold) in the Chari attainment and a lower likelihood of literacy. Baguirmi and B.E.T. regions, followed by the Centre Est, Bar Azou, Logone Occidental and Mayo Kebbi regions. Table 5 provides data on child marriage by level of Child marriage is less prevalent in N'Djaména. The education of the women, as well as literacy. Child ranking of the regions in terms of the measures obtained marriage affects education attainment negatively, with the 15 and 18 years thresholds tends to be similar. because girls often drop out of school when they marry. The causality goes the other way as well, as the ability to Rural girls are more likely to marry early than urban girls. pursue one’s education may help delay the age at Girls from the bottom four quintiles of wealth are much marriage. This relationship between education and child more likely to marry than girls from the top quintile. marriage is apparent in the data, in that the measures of child marriage tend to be higher among women with lower levels of education. The same relationship is observed Table 3: Child Marriage by Location, Age 18-22 (%) when considering literacy where three categories are 18 years 15 years considered: the woman cannot read at all, can read part H CMG SG H CMG SG of a sentence, or can read a full sentence. All 18-22 years 68.7 12.8 3.0 30.5 3.9 0.6 Region Bar Azou 71.5 13.4 3.2 31.3 4.3 0.8 The relationship between child marriage and schooling is B. E. T. 87.6 16.8 3.8 39.5 4.9 0.7 important for policy as the causality goes both ways. Child Centre Est 74.8 17.8 4.9 50.0 7.6 1.3 marriage may lead to dropouts and lower education Chari Baguirmi 89.8 19.4 4.9 56.3 7.1 1.2 attainment. But the reverse is true as well: keeping girls in Logone Occidental 70.0 13.4 3.3 32.6 4.3 0.8 school is often one of the best ways to delay marriage. Mayo Kebbi 66.9 12.3 2.6 29.1 2.9 0.4 Moyen Chari 50.2 5.1 0.7 1.8 0.2 0.0 Ouaddai Est 53.0 8.2 1.6 17.7 1.9 0.3 Marrying between the ages of 15 and 17 tends to affect N'Djaména 52.6 8.7 1.8 18.2 2.1 0.3 primarily secondary education enrollment or completion, Residence and may not necessarily affect the completion of primary Urban 59.6 10.6 2.4 22.8 3.0 0.5 education. But marrying even earlier can also prevent Rural 71.5 13.4 3.1 32.7 4.1 0.7 girls from completing their primary education (primary Source: Authors’ estimation. school takes in principle six years to complete, but some students start primary school late and may also repeat Household welfare is measured through a wealth index grades, so the actual age of completion may be delayed). with households categorized in five quintiles from poorest 2 These measures have standard errors (not shown to save space). Some differences may not be statistically significant. Page 3 HNPGP Knowledge Brief  Table 5: Child Marriage by Education Level and Conclusion Literacy Status, Age 18-22 (%) 18 years 15 years This brief has provided a basic profile of child marriage in H CMG SG H CMG SG Chad. Measures of child marriage are very high. The All 18-22 years 68.7 12.8 3.0 30.5 3.9 0.6 share of women ages 18-22 who married as children is Education 68.7 percent and it has not declined substantially over No education 76.5 14.7 3.5 37.2 4.7 0.8 time. The share of girls marrying very early, before the Primary, some 62.5 10.7 2.4 20.4 2.9 0.6 age of 15, has declined slightly. Child marriage is Primary, compl. 74.3 12.1 2.3 22.9 2.3 0.3 associated with lower wealth, lower education levels, and Secondary, some 33.2 4.7 0.9 9.4 1.1 0.2 Secondary, compl. 12.0 1.7 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 higher labor force participation. These are however only Higher 30.6 3.4 0.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 correlations, not necessarily causal effects. Other briefs in Literacy this series look at potential causal effects. Cannot read 73.3 14.0 3.3 34.0 4.3 0.7 Limited ability 62.8 10.9 2.4 25.0 3.0 0.4 References Full sentence 39.7 5.3 0.9 8.1 0.8 0.1 Source: Authors’ estimation. Foster, J., J. Greer, and E. Thorbecke, 1984, A Class of Decomposable Poverty Measures, Econometrica 52: 761–776. Relationships between child marriage and labor force participation can be complex and depend on context. Nguyen, M. C., and Q. Wodon, 2012, Measuring Child Marriage, Economics Bulletin 32(1): 398-411. Table 6 provides data on labor force participation. In Annex: Methodological Note some countries child marriage may reduce labor force participation through higher fertility. In others, if child The headcount index, child marriage gap, and squared child marriage is associated with poverty, women may leave marriage gap are the first three measures of the so-called FGT little choice but to work. Other effects could be at work, so class (Foster et al., 2014). Denote by q the number of girls who that the relationship between child marriage and labor marry early and by n the number of girls in the overall force participation is complex. In Chad, child marriage population. Denote by yi the age of marriage of girl i and by z measures are lower for women not working, suggesting a the age threshold defining child marriage (18 years of age, but a positive association between child marriage and work. In lower age threshold can also be used to measure extreme child addition, the type of work associated most with child marriage). The general formula for the FGT class of measures marriage is work without cash earnings, which may be depends on a parameter α which takes a value of zero for the headcount, one for the child marriage gap, and two for the work with low productivity. These basic statistics however squared child marriage gap in the following expression: do not imply causality.  1 q  z  yi  Table 6: Child Marriage by Labor Force Participation P   z  n i1   Status, Age 18-22 (%) 18 years 15 years H CMG SG H CMG SG This brief was produced as part of the Economic Impacts of Child All 18-22 years 68.7 12.8 3.0 30.5 3.9 0.6 Marriage study, a joint project of the International Center for Research Working on Women (ICRW) and the World Bank, which is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Children’s Investment Fund No 62.5 11.2 2.5 25.6 3.2 0.5 Foundation (CIFF). More details on the research can be found at the Yes 70.8 13.3 3.1 32.1 4.1 0.7 project’s website: www.costsofchildmarriage.org. Partial funding for the Type of work work related to child marriage and education, labor force participation, Not paid 71.1 14.1 3.7 32.7 5.2 1.1 earnings, and program responses has been provided by the Global Cash only 60.2 11.0 2.6 25.2 3.6 0.6 Partnership for Education. Comments from Jeff Edmeades and Cash and in-kind 71.4 13.2 2.9 33.9 3.6 0.5 Margareta Norris Harrit are gratefully acknowledged. The opinions In-kind only 76.8 14.3 3.3 34.3 4.3 0.7 expressed in this brief are those of the authors only and need not reflect the views of the World Bank, its Executive Directors, of the countries Source: Authors’ estimation. they represent. The Health, Nutrition and Population Knowledge Briefs of the World Bank are a quick reference on the essentials of specific HNP-related topics summarizing new findings and information. These may highlight an issue and key interventions proven to be effective in improving health, or disseminate new findings and lessons learned from the regions. For more information on this topic, go to: www.worldbank.org/health. Page 4