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Child Marriage and Infant Mortality: Evidence from Ethiopia

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  • J. García-Hombrados

Abstract

This study uses age discontinuities in exposure to a law that raised the legal age of marriage for women in Ethiopia to investigate the causal link between child marriage and infant mortality. Using a fuzzy regression discontinuity design, the study shows that laws banning underage marriages could be an effective strategy to tackle child marriage and decrease infant mortality; and estimates that a oneyear delay in women’s age at cohabitation during teenage years causally reduces the probability of infant mortality of the first born by 3.8 percentage points. The impact of child marriage on infant mortality seems to be closely linked to the effect of delaying cohabitation on the age of women at first birth.

Suggested Citation

  • J. García-Hombrados, 2018. "Child Marriage and Infant Mortality: Evidence from Ethiopia," Working Papers 2018-07, FEDEA.
    • Handle: RePEc:fda:fdaddt:2018-07
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    Cited by:

    1. Esther Miedema & Winny Koster & Nicky Pouw & Philippe Meyer & Albena Sotirova, 2020. "The Struggle for Public Recognition: Understanding Early Marriage through the Lens of Honour and Shame in Six Countries in South Asia and West Africa," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 20(4), pages 328-346, October.
    2. Chicoine,Luke, 2020. "Free Primary Education, Fertility, and Women's Access to the Labor Market : Evidence from Ethiopia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9105, The World Bank.
    3. Rashid Javed & Mazhar Mughal, 2020. "Girls Not Brides: Evolution of Child Marriage in Pakistan," Working Papers hal-03038355, HAL.

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    JEL classification:

    • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development
    • K0 - Law and Economics - - General

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