Determinants of early marriage among women: An experience from rural Bangladesh

Abstract

This study investigates the socioeconomic determinants of early marriage among the women living in rural Bangladesh through an empirical cross-sectional research. The data were collected primarily from a sample of 576 ever married women using a semi-structured interview schedule. Results show that more than half of the respondents (58.3%) were early married and the mean age of the first marriage was 16.8. Both in bivariate and multivariate setups, respondents' age, religion, education level, family type, father's occupation and household income were found to be significantly associated with marital age (p<0.001).