The timing of marriage and childbearing among rural families in Bangladesh: Choosing between competing risks

Early marriage and childbearing among girls is often associated with a wide range of negative social and health consequences for young mothers and their infants, and contributes to rapid population growth. This paper presents findings from qualitative research in three villages of rural Bangladesh, where a range of interventions have been promoted to encourage later marriage and childbearing. Data from in-depth interviews and group discussions are used to describe socio-cultural supports for early marriage and childbearing, to examine evidence that change towards later marriage and childbearing is beginning, and to analyze the social dynamics behind these change processes. The findings suggest that norms supporting early marriage and childbearing are beginning to erode, and that changing gender ideals and aspirations for women are a key factor in this erosion. Interviews among the poorest families, however, show that this group tends to experience this changing social environment in terms of heightened risks. Marital strategies among the poorest are, above all, strategies for economic survival, and poor families tend to see the costs of education and delayed marriage for daughters as high and the outcomes as uncertain. At the same time, they have also become aware that early marriage and childbearing entails costs and risks. The authors conclude that further targeting of interventions to the poorest families may help to influence the economic strategies that so often result in early marriage.