Table 1.

Distribution of age at first marriage by explanatory variables

Variables	Frequency (n)	Percentage (%)	Age at first marriage (%)		p-value (χ2)
Individual-level variables			18 years and above	Below 18 years
Educational level					p < 0.001
No education	2,104	46.33	15.23	84.77
Primary	620	13.65	27.05	72.95
Secondary and above	1,818	40.03	59.84	40.16
Currently working					p < 0.001
Unemployed	2,024	44.55	30.11	69.89
Employed	2,519	55.45	38.38	61.62
Religious affiliation					p < 0.001
Christianity	1,299	28.59	61.05	38.95
Islam	3,222	70.93	24.17	75.83
Traditionalist and others	21	0.48	20.81	79.19
Ethnicity					p < 0.001
Hausa	2,428	53.44	18.13	81.87
Yoruba	400	8.82	74.07	25.93
Igbo	311	6.86	74.29	25.71
Others	1,403	30.89	43.33	56.67
Ever circumcised					P < 0.05
No	4,370	96.18	34.19	65.81
Yes	173	3.82	47.54	52.46
Parity					p < 0.001
None	595	13.10	63.11	36.89
1–3	3,743	82.39	31.89	68.11
4–6	204	4.51	3.51	96.49
Media exposure					p < 0.001
No	1,921	42.29	20.33	79.67
Yes	2,622	57.71	45.22	54.78
Household/community level variables
Place of residence					p < 0.001
Urban	1,427	31.43	52.21	47.79
Rural	3,115	68.57	26.67	73.33
Wealth index					p < 0.001
Poorest	1,094	24.09	16.27	83.73
Poorer	1,186	26.12	21.15	78.05
Middle	990	21.79	35.95	64.05
Richer	808	17.70	56.54	43.46
Richest	463	10.21	72.10	27.90	p < 0.001
Sex of household head
Male	4,174	91.88	33.39	66.61
Female	369	8.12	49.44	50.56
Region					p < 0.001
North Central	696	15.33	46.86	53.14
North East	927	20.42	21.91	78.09
North West	1907	41.99	18.64	81.36
South East	264	5.82	73.76	26.24
South South	293	6.46	59.59	40.41
South West	453	9.98	70.82	29.18
Community literacy level					p < 0.001
Low	2,327	51.23	21.81	78.19
Medium	739	16.28	29.33	70.67
High	1,476	32.49	57.70	42.30
Community socioeconomic status					p < 0.001
Low	3,527	77.63	28.11	71.89
High	1,016	22.37	57.55	42.45
Nigeria	n = 4543	100	34.70	65.30

Weighted NDHS, 2018