Current Status + Progress
Child marriage is a violation of human rights, but is all too common

Marriage before the age of 18 is a fundamental violation of human rights. Many factors interact to place a girl at risk of marriage, including poverty, the perception that marriage will provide ‘protection’, family honour, social norms, customary or religious laws that condone the practice, an inadequate legislative framework and the state of a country’s civil registration system. Child marriage often compromises a girl’s development by resulting in early pregnancy and social isolation, interrupting her schooling, limiting her opportunities for career and vocational advancement and placing her at increased risk of domestic violence. Child marriage also affects boys, but to a lesser degree than girls.

Cohabitation – when a couple lives ‘in union’, as if married – raises the same human rights concerns as marriage. When a girl lives with a man and takes on the role of his caregiver, the assumption is often that she has become an adult, even if she has not yet reached the age of 18. Additional concerns due to the informality of the relationship – in terms of inheritance, citizenship and social recognition, for example – may make girls in informal unions vulnerable in different ways than girls who are married.

The issue of child marriage is addressed in a number of international conventions and agreements. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, for example, covers the right to protection from child marriage in article 16, which states: “The betrothal and the marriage of a child shall have no legal effect, and all necessary action, including legislation, shall be taken to specify a minimum age for marriage….” The right to ‘free and full’ consent to marriage is recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which says that consent cannot be ‘free and full’ when one of the parties involved is not sufficiently mature to make an informed decision about a life partner. Although marriage is not mentioned directly in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, child marriage is linked to other rights – such as the right to freedom of expression, the right to protection from all forms of abuse, and the right to be protected from harmful traditional practices – and is frequently addressed by the Committee on the Rights of the Child. Other international agreements related to child marriage are the Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa.

CHILD MARRIAGE AMONG GIRLS

Across the globe, rates of child marriage are highest in sub-Saharan Africa, where around 4 in 10 girls marry before age 18; about one in eight were married or in union before age 15. This is followed by Latin America and the Caribbean and the Middle East and North Africa, where 24 per cent and 18 per cent, respectively, of women between the ages of 20 and 24 were married in childhood.

The highest rates of child marriage are found in sub-Saharan Africa
Percentage of women aged 20 to 24 years who were first married or in union before age 15 and after age 15 but before age 18, by region

* Excludes China

** CEE/CIS: Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States

Notes: Regional estimates represent data covering at least 50 per cent of the regional population of women aged 20 to 24. Data coverage was insufficient to calculate global estimates and regional estimates for South Asia and for East Asia and the Pacific for the percentage of women aged 20 to 24 married before age 15.

Source: UNICEF global databases, 2016, based on DHS, MICS and other nationally representative surveys, 2008-2014.

MARRIED ADOLESCENTS

Globally, about one in seven adolescent girls (aged 15 to 19) are currently married or in union. West and Central Africa has the highest proportion of married adolescents (27 per cent), followed by Eastern and Southern Africa (21 per cent) and the Middle East and North Africa (14 per cent).

More than 1 in 4 adolescent girls in West and Central Africa are currently married or in union, compared to 1 in 17 in East Asia and the Pacific
Percentage of girls aged 15 to 19 years who are currently married or in union, by region

Notes: Estimates are based on a subset of 104 countries covering 61 per cent of the global population of girls aged 15 to 19. Regional estimates represent data covering at least 50 per cent of the regional population . Data coverage was insufficient to calculate a regional estimate for South Asia.

Source: UNICEF global databases, 2016, based on DHS, MICS and other nationally representative surveys, 2010-2015.

CHILD MARRIAGE AMONG BOYS

Child marriage affects girls in far greater numbers than boys, and with more intensity. However, data on the number of boys affected by child marriage are limited, making it difficult to draw definitive conclusions on its status and progress. Nevertheless, available data confirm that boys are far less likely than girls in the same region to marry before age 18.

In nine countries, more than 10 per cent of boys are married before age 18
Percentage of men aged 20 to 24 years who were first married or in union by age 18, in the nine countries where prevalence rates for child marriage are above 10 per cent

Source: UNICEF global databases, 2016, based on DHS and MICS, 2007–2014.

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Percentage of women aged 20 to 24 years who were first married or in union before ages 15 and 18Download Data
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Notes on the Data

DATA SOURCES

The term ‘child marriage’ is used to refer to both formal marriages and informal unions in which a girl or boy lives with a partner as if married before the age of 18. An informal union is one in which a couple live together for some time, intending to have a lasting relationship, but do not have a formal civil or religious ceremony. The main sources of such data are national censuses and national household surveys, predominantly the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) and Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS).

MAIN INDICATORS

In 2003, UNICEF and partners agreed to focus on five indicators related to child marriage:

  • Percentage of women 20 to 49 first married or in union by age 15 and 18, by age group
  • Percentage of girls 15 to 19 years of age currently married or in union
  • Spousal age difference
  • Percentage of women currently in a polygynous union, by age groups
  • Percentage of ever-married women who were directly involved in the choice of their first husband or partner.

Many countries also collect data on the marital status and age at first marriage for boys and men, thereby allowing a comparison of gender differentials related to child marriage.

INTERPRETING THE DATA

The context and indicators related to child marriage and cohabitation can be approached through the examination of age groups. One approach is to consider all women in a society. Another would be to observe the situation of girls aged 15 to 19 to determine the number of girls currently married or in union and the characteristics associated with that age group. However, gauging how many of those girls will be married or in union by their 18th birthday is more complex because many have not yet reached the age of 18. Looking at the group of women 20 to 24 years old is simpler and allows for the inclusion of all girls who were married or in union by age 18 within the closest time period for which complete data are available.

MICS MODULE ON CHILD MARRIAGE

MICS surveys have standardized modules on marriage for men and for women

Download the MICS module on marriage for women (PDF) 

Download the MICS module on marriage for men (PDF)