Knowledge Brief Health, Nutrition and Population Global Practice BASIC PROFILE OF CHILD MARRIAGE IN COTE D’IVOIRE Chata Malé and Quentin Wodon March 2016 Child Marriage Series with Education Global Practice e KEY MESSAGES:  Measures of child marriage are high in Côte d’Ivoire. The share of women ages 18-22 who married as children is 32.0 percent, but it has declined over time. The share of girls marrying very early, before the age of 15, is under nine percent and has also declined 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 Côte d’Ivoire. The brief is part of a series of standardized briefs How is the question answered? Measures and a profile of on this topic for several countries. child marriage inspired by the literature on poverty are provided. Page 1 HNPGP Knowledge Brief  A third of women in Côte d’Ivoire still marry early. but it will also have other negative consequences for her as well as for her children. The analysis is based on data from the 2011-12 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) for Côte d’Ivoire. Most studies on child marriage report the incidence of This is the latest DHS available. Table 1 provides basic child marriage - the share of girls who marry early (before statistics on the age at first marriage for women. Two 18), sometimes also with the share of girls who marry samples are considered: women ages 18 to 22, which is very early, before age 15. Such statistics are useful, but the youngest age group that can be used to measure they do not capture the “depth” and “severity” of the child marriage in the country1, and women ages 18-49 practice very well. Better measures of child marriage can (the women’s questionnaire in the DHS collects data for be adopted from the poverty literature (Ngyuen and women up to age 49). Clearly, a large share of women Wodon (2012). Three measures are used here: the marry below the age of 18, and many do so before the incidence of child marriage or headcount index, the child age of 15, but there are some differences in the likelihood marriage gap, and the squared child marriage gap. of marrying as children between the two groups. This Definitions of these measures is provided in the annex. suggests that child marriage may have decreased over The measures are estimated for child marriage as well as time, as will be discussed below. 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 54.1 22.5 who marry early, but also the mean number of years of 18 or Above 13.9 42.4 early marriage. When using the child marriage gap for the Below 12 0.8 1.1 evaluation of programs or policies, instead of simply 12 0.8 1.4 looking at the share of the girls who marry early, more 13 2.2 2.8 14 5.0 5.4 weight is placed on the girls who marry at a very young 15 5.6 7.4 age. While the child marriage gap takes into account the 16 7.8 8.1 average number of years of early marriage for girls who 17 9.9 8.9 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 16.5 18.9 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 Côte d’Ivoire in 2011- the poverty literature help in capturing better how early 12 was lower than that observed 25 years ago. There has girls marry (see the annex). The headcount (H) measures been a limited 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 been reduced 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 almost one third of measures of child marriage are also important. girls marry before the age of 18 (32.0 percent for the 18- 22 age group). The child marriage gap (CMG) is at 4.7 The negative impact of child marriage for a girl’s health, percent and the squared gap (SG) at 0.9 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 a decline in the headcount, at least comparing the that she will drop out early and thereby have a low level of youngest and oldest age groups, as well as a decline (in education attainment. This will not only limit her proportional terms) in other measures, suggesting that employment and earnings potential for the rest of her life, girls tend to marry slightly less early when they marry as children. Nevertheless, recent gains remain limited. 1 Child marriage measures must be estimated on the population older than 18, because some younger girls not yet married in the The fact that girls who marry early may marry slightly less survey could still get married by age 18. It is best to measure early is confirmed by the measures based on the 15 years child marriage as early as possible after the age of 18 to provide age threshold which suggest a decline in the headcount data on conditions as current as possible, which is why the age for those measures. Overall, the share of girls marrying as bracket 18-22 is used here. Page 2 HNPGP Knowledge Brief  children has decreased by ten percentage points over the Household welfare is measured through a wealth index last 25 years (the approximate time gap between the first with households categorized in five quintiles from poorest and last age group), and the decline for extreme child to richest. For most women the level of wealth observed is marriage (15 years threshold), is at five points2. In recent that of the household in which they married, not their years though, little progress was achieved. household or origin, but it is likely that many women marry with men who have similar socio-economic profiles, so the Table 2: Trend in Child and Very Early Marriage (%) quintile after marriage may not be that different from the 18 years 15 years quintile before. Also, for younger women, assets and H CMG SG H CMG SG wealth may be lower than for older women. In Côte All 18-49 years 35.1 5.54 1.16 10.8 1.35 0.23 d’Ivoire, the measures of child marriage differ by quintile, Age group but it is only in the top quintile of wealth that child 18-22 years 32.0 4.66 0.92 8.8 1.02 0.16 marriage is much less prevalent. 23-30 years 32.9 5.21 1.08 9.8 1.21 0.20 31-40 years 36.5 5.89 1.28 11.9 1.55 0.27 41-49 years 42.7 7.04 1.51 14.1 1.80 0.30 Table 4: Child Marriage by Quintile, Age 18-22 (%) Source: Authors’ estimation. 18 years 15 years H CMG SG H CMG SG Girls are more likely to marry early if they live in rural All 18-22 years 32.0 4.66 0.92 8.8 1.02 0.16 Wealth quintiles areas and are from poorer socio-economic groups. Poorest 55.8 8.09 1.58 13.3 1.64 0.28 Poorer 39.2 5.96 1.23 10.8 1.37 0.24 Child marriage is more prevalent in rural than in urban Middle 31.4 4.15 0.75 7.8 0.78 0.11 areas. There are also differences between regions, with Richer 31.1 4.76 0.98 10.0 1.18 0.18 the lowest measures observed in Abidjan and the highest Richest 15.4 2.28 0.46 5.0 0.54 0.08 measures observed (according to the headcount index for Source: Authors’ estimation. the 18 years threshold) in the North-West and North regions, followed by the West-Center, West, South-West Child marriage is associated with lower education and North-East regions. Child marriage tends to be less attainment and a lower likelihood of literacy. prevalent in the East- Center region. The ranking of the regions in terms of the measures obtained with the 15 and Table 5 provides data on child marriage by level of 18 years thresholds tends to be similar. education of the women, as well as literacy. Child marriage affects education attainment negatively, Rural girls are much more likely to marry early than urban because girls often drop out of school when they marry. girls. Girls from the bottom four quintiles of wealth are The causality goes the other way as well, as the ability to much more likely to marry than girls from the top quintile. pursue one’s education may help delay the age at marriage. This relationship between education and child marriage is apparent in the data, in that the measures of Table 3: Child Marriage by Location, Age 18-22 (%) child marriage tend to be higher among women with lower 18 years 15 years levels of education. The same relationship is observed H CMG SG H CMG SG when considering literacy where three categories are All 18-22 years 32.0 4.66 0.92 8.8 1.02 0.16 considered: the woman cannot read at all, can read part Region Center 22.4 3.40 0.69 5.8 0.74 0.13 of a sentence, or can read a full sentence. East- Center 21.2 3.08 0.59 5.3 0.61 0.08 North-Center 22.0 2.42 0.36 3.9 0.26 0.02 The relationship between child marriage and schooling is West-Center 48.3 7.05 1.39 10.8 1.48 0.26 important for policy as the causality goes both ways. Child North 54.4 8.76 1.91 18.7 2.38 0.42 marriage may lead to dropouts and lower education North-East 33.5 5.40 1.21 9.0 1.39 0.30 attainment. But the reverse is true as well: keeping girls in North-West 55.3 8.91 1.89 18.8 2.30 0.36 West 44.9 6.71 1.29 13.7 1.38 0.17 school is often one of the best ways to delay marriage. South out Abidjan 24.0 3.63 0.82 8.2 1.10 0.22 South-West 42.8 5.53 0.92 10.5 0.80 0.07 Marrying between the ages of 15 and 17 tends to affect Abidjan City 16.9 2.40 0.46 4.6 0.51 0.08 primarily secondary education enrollment or completion, Residence and may not necessarily affect the completion of primary Urban 21.0 3.01 0.60 6.1 0.70 0.11 education. But marrying even earlier can also prevent Rural 46.9 6.89 1.36 12.4 1.46 0.24 Source: Authors’ estimation. girls from completing their primary education (primary school takes in principle six years to complete, but some students start primary school late and may also repeat grades, so the actual age of completion may be delayed). 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 is 32.0 percent and it has declined over time (although Literacy Status, Age 18-22 (%) less so in recent years). The share of girls marrying very 18 years 15 years early, before the age of 15, has declined as well. Child H CMG SG H CMG SG marriage is associated with lower wealth, lower education All 18-22 years 32.0 4.66 0.92 8.8 1.02 0.16 levels, and higher labor force participation. These are Education however only correlations, not necessarily causal effects. No education 47.8 7.25 1.49 14.6 1.73 0.28 Other briefs in this series look at potential causal effects. Primary, some 31.6 4.19 0.73 5.7 0.63 0.10 Primary, compl. 26.9 3.35 0.60 2.9 0.50 0.13 References Secondary, some 12.8 1.77 0.33 4.4 0.41 0.04 Secondary, compl. 1.3 0.42 0.14 1.3 0.25 0.05 Foster, J., J. Greer, and E. Thorbecke, 1984, A Class of Higher 0.4 0.04 - - - - Decomposable Poverty Measures, Econometrica 52: 761–776. Literacy Cannot read 45.3 6.71 1.35 12.9 1.51 0.24 Nguyen, M. C., and Q. Wodon, 2012, Measuring Child Marriage, Limited ability 19.8 2.76 0.47 3.4 0.28 0.03 Economics Bulletin 32(1): 398-411. Full sentence 13.8 1.86 0.35 3.4 0.39 0.06 No card available 44.8 3.11 0.24 - - - Source: Authors’ estimation. Values rounding to 0.0 not shown. Annex: Methodological Note The headcount index, child marriage gap, and squared child Relationships between child marriage and labor force marriage gap are the first three measures of the so-called FGT participation can be complex and depend on context. class (Foster et al., 2014). Denote by q the number of girls who marry early and by n the number of girls in the overall Table 6 provides data on labor force participation. In population. Denote by yi the age of marriage of girl i and by z some countries child marriage may reduce labor force the age threshold defining child marriage (18 years of age, but a participation through higher fertility. In others, if child lower age threshold can also be used to measure extreme child marriage is associated with poverty, women may leave marriage). The general formula for the FGT class of measures little choice but to work. Other effects could be at work, so depends on a parameter α which takes a value of zero for the that the relationship between child marriage and labor headcount, one for the child marriage gap, and two for the squared child marriage gap in the following expression: force participation is complex. In Côte d’Ivoire, child  1 q  z  yi  P    marriage measures are lower for women not working, suggesting a positive association between child marriage and work. In addition, the type of work associated most n i1  z   with child marriage is work without cash earnings, which may be work with low productivity. These basic statistics This brief was produced as part of the Economic Impacts of Child however do not imply causality. Marriage study, a joint project of the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) and the World Bank, which is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Children’s Investment Fund Table 6: Child Marriage by Labor Force Participation Foundation (CIFF). More details on the research can be found at the Status, Age 18-22 (%) project’s website: www.costsofchildmarriage.org. Partial funding for the 18 years 15 years work related to child marriage and education, labor force participation, H CMG SG H CMG SG earnings, and program responses has been provided by the Global Partnership for Education. Comments from Jeff Edmeades and All 18-22 years 32.0 4.66 0.92 8.8 1.02 0.16 Margareta Norris Harrit are gratefully acknowledged. The opinions Working expressed in this brief are those of the authors only and need not reflect No 29.1 4.00 0.74 7.5 0.76 0.10 the views of the World Bank, its Executive Directors, of the countries Yes 33.9 5.10 1.05 9.7 1.20 0.21 they represent. Type of work Not paid 24.6 3.80 0.79 7.9 0.95 0.14 Cash only 30.8 4.48 0.94 7.7 1.10 0.22 Cash and in-kind 53.6 8.46 1.76 16.4 2.01 0.35 In-kind only 55.0 7.56 1.28 15.1 1.01 0.07 Source: Authors’ estimation. Conclusion This brief has provided a basic profile of child marriage in Côte d’Ivoire. Measures of child marriage are very high. The share of women ages 18-22 who married as children 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