Table 1.
Percentage distribution of early marriage by different socioeconomic characteristics of the sample
| Characteristics |
Total respondents, N (%)g |
Early marriageh n (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Prevalence of early marriage | 58.85 (57.21–60.47) | |
| Women’s age (in years)a | ||
| 20 | 876 (21.08) | 482 (55.01) |
| 21 | 867 (20.85) | 527 (60.76) |
| 22 | 858 (20.65) | 494 (57.54) |
| 23 | 746 (17.94) | 454 (60.89) |
| 24 | 809 (19.47) | 489 (60.47) |
| Women’s educationb | ||
| No formal education | 145 (3.49) | 109 (75.03) |
| Primary | 908 (21.84) | 666 (73.32) |
| Secondary | 1905 (45.78) | 1368 (71.80) |
| Higher | 1202 (28.90) | 303 (25.20) |
| Husband’s educationa, f | ||
| No formal education | 423 (10.53) | 305 (72.16) |
| Primary | 1289 (32.09) | 844 (65.49) |
| Secondary | 1527 (38.02) | 877 (57.42) |
| Higher | 777 (19.35) | 327 (42.07) |
| Religiona | ||
| Muslim | 3828 (92.11) | 2282 (59.61) |
| Non-Muslim | 328 (7.89) | 164 (49.99) |
| Wealth indexc | ||
| Poorest | 679 (16.32) | 504 (74.24) |
| Poorer | 769 (18.49) | 491 (63.90) |
| Middle | 821 (19.74) | 495 (60.36) |
| Richer | 938 (22.55) | 523 (55.74) |
| Richest | 952 (22.90) | 432 (45.41) |
| Family sizea | ||
| Small (≤ 4 members) | 1768 (42.56) | 1106 (62.56) |
| Large (> 4 members) | 2387 (57.44) | 1339 (56.10) |
| Place of residenced | ||
| Urban | 1275 (30.68) | 696 (54.57) |
| Rural | 2881 (69.32) | 1750 (60.73) |
| Divisione | ||
| Barisal | 209 (5.03) | 135 (64.63) |
| Chattogram | 814 (19.59) | 440 (54.07) |
| Dhaka | 1139 (27.41) | 656 (57.57) |
| Khulna | 391 (9.41) | 241 (61.62) |
| Mymensingh | 306 (7.37) | 197 (64.39) |
| Rajshahi | 520 (12.50) | 364 (70.11) |
| Rangpur | 433 (10.41) | 290 (66.96) |
| Sylhet | 344 (8.27) | 122 (35.36) |
| Community-level illiteracyb | ||
| < 25 (low) | 966 (23.21) | 495 (51.26) |
| 25 to 50 (Moderate) | 2396 (57.59) | 1412 (58.95) |
| > 50 (high) | 799 (19.20) | 538 (67.36) |
| Community-level povertyc | ||
| > 41.0 (High poverty) | 1820 (43.77) | 1185 (65.09) |
| 16–41 (Moderate poverty) | 1029 (24.75) | 611 (59.39) |
| < = 15 (Low poverty) | 560 (13.45) | 255 (45.54) |
| Middle or rich community | 749 (18.02) | 395 (52.70) |
aEstimates were adjusted or weighted by all women factor-total
bEstimates were adjusted or weighted by all women factor-education
cEstimates were adjusted or weighted by all women factor-wealth quintile
dEstimates were adjusted or weighted by all women factor-urban/rural
eEstimates were adjusted or weighted by all women factor-regional
fThere were some missing values in husband’s education (n = 4019)
gColumn percentage
hRow percentage