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Early Marriages
Microeconomics I

Aalizae Anwar Yazdani

Amania Kamran
Ayesha Tariq
Izma Azhar

Submitted to Ms. Nida Jamil

4th June 2022
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The reason behind the problem

According to a UNICEF report, around the world approximately 39,000 children are

married on a daily basis, pushing them further into poverty and despair. The issue of early

marriages is a developing world problem, affecting girls excessively (UNICEF, 2016).

Early marriage or child marriage is a type of marriage that takes place before the age of

18, which is the legal age for marriage globally. It has resulted in detrimental consequences for

the individuals who end up in such a union. Females that undergo early marriages face numerous

hardships, inclusive of lack of education and work opportunities, family instability, higher risk of

domestic violence, and degenerating mental & physical health. The aftermath of early marriages

is pernicious, hence, it is imperative to understand the biases and behavioral decisions behind

this practice (Kohno, et al., 2020).

However, the problem of early marriages cannot be attributed to a cognitive bias or

behavioral pitfalls, as it is not a practice brought about simply due to one’s emotions, heuristic

thinking, time inconsistency, mental accounting, or any such behavioral bias. There is a myriad
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of interconnected reasons as to why the practice of early marriage takes place, and these reasons

can be ascribed to external or societal factors. It is not a practice being carried out by just a few

individuals in society who could blame their actions on behavioral biases, but it is being

practiced by a vast majority of individuals due to various societal pressures and economic

reasons. Countries in South East Asia, South America, the Middle East, and Africa are well

known for being deeply indulged in the common practice of early marriages.

First and foremost, high rates of early marriages are found in these countries due to a lack

of economic opportunities, access to education, inadequate health services, specifically for young

girls, in conjunction with extreme poverty, and weak law enforcement mechanisms. Such issues

are prevalent in developing countries, hence, early marriages are more of a developing country

issue where the economic problems and pressures within such countries pave the way for early

marriages. For most impoverished families, marrying their daughter at an early age is a way for

thriving in such poor circumstances, as it means one less person to feed, clothe and educate for

the family. Most significantly, financial transactions at the time of marriage also play a vital role

as it creates an incentive for families to marry their daughter as earliest as possible. Within

countries of Africa and South Asia, a young girl who is nearing puberty would get the highest

bid price at the time of marriage, and the earlier a daughter is married the lower will be the

dowry. Hence, poverty plays a pivotal role in decisions regarding early marriage, mostly

concentrated in impoverished households (Montazeri, et al., 2016).

Furthermore, limited schooling has a positive correlation with getting married earlier.

The education of boys is prioritized over the education of girls as girls are seen as wives,

mothers, and homemakers, thus their careers are not given any importance. Additionally, even if

certain poor households want to send their daughters to school, they do not have the ability or
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money to gain access to quality education and schools. Hence, the idea of early marriages is seen

as a feasible option for girls.

Most importantly, weak law enforcement mechanisms are one of the leading causes of

early marriages in most regions. The marriages are decided amongst the elders of the family who

are aware that there are no such strong laws to prohibit child marriages and even the child

protection laws are deemed weak. This gives the families excessive leverage to marry off the

child at whatever age they think is suitable. There exists weak legislation, existing laws are not

being implemented properly and the tribal & feudal structures of certain societies also limit the

exercising of such laws (R.Psaki, et al., 2021).

The societal pressures of a traditional society and religious pressures also put parents

under pressure to marry their daughters as early as possible so she does not engage in any sexual

activity that would bring dishonor to the family and community. In most societies, marriage

determines the status of a woman, thus parents often worry that if their daughter does not get

married according to societal expectations, she might not be able to get married at all. In many

regions, forced marriages also occur in order to settle any debts or disputes between families.

Such practices are common in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India (Kohno, et al., 2020).

Hence, these are some of the external and economic factors which ultimately lead to the

practice of early marriages in many countries across the globe. The solution to resolving the

problem also lies in the fixation of these factors, which might be able to solve the problem of

early marriages to a certain extent.

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Evidence and statistics on early marriages

According to UNICEF Child Marriage Statistics of 2020 almost 12 million girls that is

every 1 in 5 girls get married before their 18th birthday.

There are many countries that have laws against early marriages but are not properly

enforced while few countries allow child marriages below the legal age of marriage is 18.

The below chart shows the countries that allow early marriages.
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Early marriage is found everywhere around the globe, however, the situation is more

alarming in the least developing areas. According to UNICEF global databases, 2020 Niger has

been ranked first with the highest rate of early marriages followed by the Central African

Republic, Chad, and Bangladesh.

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Bangladesh is fourth among countries with the highest percentage of early marriages. In

an article written by N.Kirkpatrick Allison Joyce, a famous photographer, said that he

photographed ‘The saddest bride I have ever seen. A 15-year-old Nasrin Akhtar from

Bangladesh was married to a 32 years old man Mohammad Hasamur Rahman. Another case

mentioned was of 14 years old Mousammat Akhi Akhter who was married to 27 years old man.

(N. Kirkpatrick, 2015)

There are several cases of early marriages in Pakistan as well. UNICEF reports that 21

percent of Pakistani girls are married by the age of 18, and three percent before 15 years of age.

In 2020, 119 cases of child marriages were reported in the country, of which 95 percent were of

girls and five percent were of boys, according to a report by Islamabad-based Sahil, a non-

governmental organization working for child protection. (Bhatti, 2022)

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Children mostly girls who are married off are not able to continue their education and are

subject to domestic violence, unplanned pregnancies, and other issues such as lack of health,

around 2 million adolescents living with HIV (World Health Organization). Resolving the issue

of early marriage is likely to improve the lives of millions of children whose childhood is taken

away from them in the name of marriage. Banning child marriage is likely to reduce adolescent

pregnancies. This can help in reducing the maternal mortality rate. These children are also likely

to pursue their education ultimately improving their skills and confidence and opening better

career opportunities for them in the future. Therefore, reducing child marriages would also help

in achieving other economic goals such as better education access, boosting economic growth

and development, and improving nutrition and health. Apart from this, it would also ensure a

better future for the next generations due to better health and education.

How to resolve the problem

One way to reduce the issue of early marriages is through government intervention. This

includes law enforcement such as making it illegal to get married before the legal age and

policies regarding the maximum number of children per couple. In most countries, strict

punishments already exist against people who are involved in child marriages, however, they are

not properly implemented which is why most families still engage in such activities. Thus

government needs to ensure that laws are not only passed but implemented as well.

The second way to resolve this problem is through education. Lack of education is a

significant reason behind early marriages. Most of the children, especially girls are married off

because their parents believe that bearing high education expenses would go waste because

women in the end have to get married and take their matrimony responsibilities. Apart from this

other factors like the distance from the school and safe means to reach school also limits the
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education of girls promoting early marriages. If government provides people easier access to

cheaper education, especially in rural areas, it would reduce the chances of child marriage to a

great extent. It is likely to raise awareness among people and educated parents are likely to get

their children educated as well breaking the vicious cycle of early marriages.

The Marginal Benefit and Marginal Cost of the Solutions and the Likelihood of them

Working

As mentioned earlier, intervening and ending the practice of early marriages would be

beneficial not just for the young girls involved but also for their households and the economy.

One of the solutions talked about earlier was that an increase in educational attainment for young

girls could lead to a reduction in this practice and thus a better life for them. Increasing education

includes anything that might help these girls in enhancing their knowledge about the negative

consequences of having larger families, or this might also include job opportunities so that a

woman is able to delay her marriage and focus on building herself a career first. All this can be

achieved by introducing family planning programs that create awareness and encourage a smaller

ideal family size, or by allowing young girls to receive education till later ages rather than taking

them out of school at an early age. Similarly, schools should provide basic knowledge for girls as

well as young boys about their role in the growing economy and how they can actively

participate by contributing to the development and welfare of their country. This knowledge and

awareness can help the economy in the long run for future generations. Thus, it is safe to say that

ending this practice of early marriage would lead to a better scope for young girls in terms of an

increase in their lifetime earnings, improved household incomes, more independence, and

decision-making power. In most cases, this would also reduce the incidence of intimate partner

violence that many young girls have to face when they are married off to men much older than
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them. Moreover, allowing access to higher education changes the prospects of the households

and the economy for the better. An increase in education would also increase the likelihood that

their children will also be educated, hence improving the human capital for the long run. We

have seen that providing education can help reduce the number of children per household. By

avoiding a high population the government will be able to save more and hence contribute

towards economic stability as there is a marginal benefit of foregoing the cost of providing

education, healthcare, etc. to a rising population. Another marginal benefit is that as the

government or the respected programs are increasing educational attainment, the households are

the ones who will be benefiting as their standard of living would improve. These marginal

benefits would be felt more by the poorer or lower class of the economy as the government could

use those savings to alleviate poverty. Similarly, employment opportunities may raise the cost of

dropping out of school and help women to build a brighter future for themselves and their future

generations. According to the World Bank and International Center for Research on Women

(ICRW), reducing this practice of early marriages could help the global economy by saving

trillions of dollars by 2030. However, this is only possible if the public understands the economic

benefits of ending child marriages which would eventually lead the government and the people

to work towards ending this practice. A marginal cost of using education to reduce early

marriage includes the financial, mental and emotional burden of each child they do not marry off

early. This can be hard especially for the lower income class where they have more mouths to

feed relative to the income received. According to the World Bank Group (2017), the likelihood

of marrying before the age of 18 by increasing education, reduces by 5% or more in many

countries (Simone, 2017). According to Pooja (not her real name) from Nepal: "If my parents

had allowed me to study, I would have studied very sincerely. My friends continued their studies
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and now they have become wiser and cleverer, if I had studied I would have been working. But

my parents held my marriage and I couldn’t do anything after marriage. I now have children to

look after." Pooja and countless other girls like her can attest to the fact that if they had been

allowed an education, they would be leading much better lives than the ones they are now forced

to live due to marrying early. Using the method of increasing education to reduce early marriages

has been used in other countries. Due to its size and high levels of poverty, India has the 14th

highest rate of child marriage in the world, according to the International Center for Research on

Women. The biggest decline in the number and percentage of young women married in

childhood in the last 10 years has occurred in South Asia, mainly due to progress in India. This

decline was seen to be majorly due to improvements in girls’ education, the transition of

households to an improved standard of living, and a decrease in average household size.

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Similarly, Bangladesh has seen a decrease in the practice of child marriage, experiencing

one of the largest absolute declines globally for marriage before age 15 and 18 and this could be

majorly due to an increase in girls’ education as shown in the graph below.

According to the UC San Diego News Centre, There have been rigorous evaluations of

interventions in Ethiopia and Malawi aimed at retaining girls in schools, with the result of

delayed age at marriage.

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These examples, along with many more, show that an increase in educational attainment

can help reduce child marriages and since these countries have shown progress, Pakistan can also

show similar feedback to such solutions. According to UNFPA, the main issue of child marriages

in Pakistan arises from the rural areas as most of the population is close to poverty. Hence, girls

who live in rural or remote areas have access to little or no education and thus are most at risk of

early marriages. Thus, eliminating this practice of early marriage can be achieved in Pakistan by

implementing support programs that can help and empower girls away from early marriage,

access to education choices can be improved, economic opportunities for girls through

employment can be improved, and most importantly, communities should be educated and

sensitized on the negative impacts that early marriage can have on the girl and the economy.

Thus, these solutions can work in the same way as they did for the aforementioned examples and

they can help reduce this harmful practice.

Moving on to another solution mentioned earlier which was the implementation of a law

that could curb the possibility of young girls getting married at an early age and the negative

consequences that come with it. This could be achieved by either putting a minimum age limit at

which girls can legally marry or by passing laws that allow only a certain number of children per

family. In most countries, the legal age for a male and female to legally marry is 18. This

minimum age of consent is important to keep girls as well as boys safe from the repercussions of

getting married at an early age when they are not physically, mentally, emotionally, or

psychologically ready to make a family. Evidence shows that early marriages cause harm,

especially for girls as they are deprived of their basic rights to education, healthcare, and overall

upbringing. This carries on to their offspring thus harming the future generations also. There are

different approaches that the government can take to ensure the minimum age is being adhered
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to. They may criminalize child marriages or they may ban this practice altogether and tax those

who have broken this law. In Bangladesh, for example, underage girls and boys are punished

with imprisonment of up to 15 days or fined, or both (Ministry of Women and Child Affairs,

2017). Similarly, those who exceed the agreed-upon number of children may be fined for each

extra child they have. This is a marginal cost faced by the households at the hands of the

government. In China, for example, a law was passed in 2021, which allows families to have

three children. Failure to follow this law results in punishments including fines and forced

abortions. An extra child thus becomes a marginal cost for families where such laws have been

passed. Another law that might be passed by the government to reduce early marriages is spousal

consent. In 34 out of the 37 countries in the Asia-Pacific region studied by Scolaro. et. al (2015),

the consent of both spouses, or in some areas only the women’s consent was required to validate

the marriage. If marriage was arranged by force then that marriage would be void. A marginal

benefit can arise if we look at this from the government’s point of view. They are earning

revenue for each law that is broken by each household.

The extent to which these solution works is shown through a study by UNICEF 2021

which proves that Countries that have passed laws to set a minimum age of marriage in order to

protect the rights of girls at 18 or older had rates of child marriage that were 40 percent lower

than countries where these laws contradicted one another. However, these laws are not sufficient

to end these practices. Studies have shown that around 7.5 million girls marry illegally each year.

Similarly, in countries where no sanctions such as fines and punishments exist, these laws are

ineffective. By looking at examples of different countries that have adhered to a strictly legal

approach to this practice, we see that this solution can be effective. Regions of Europe and
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Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa from 1995

to 2018, made the most progress in raising the legal age of marriage for girls (UNICEF, 2021).

Talking about Pakistan has taken several steps toward keeping a strictly legal approach to

reducing early marriages. It has passed several laws over the years. In April 2014, the Sindh

Assembly adopted the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act, which changed the minimum age to

18 for both girls and boys, punishable by law. In 2015, Punjab amended the Child Marriage

Restraint Ordinance 1971 and passed the Punjab Marriage Restraint Act 2015 which increased

the imprisonment and fines but kept the legal age of marriage at 16 years. In Khyber

Pakhtunkhwa, however, the assembly failed to pass the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Child Marriage

Restraint Bill 2014, which would have raised the age of marriage to 18 years. Talking on a

national level, in 2017 Senator Sehar Kamran moved a bill in the national assembly to increase

the legal age of consent for marriage for girls from 16 years to 18 years. However, a standing

committee, headed by PPP's Rehman Malik, abolished the bill and said it was contrary to Islamic

directives. The bill was then referred to the Council of Islamic Ideology, where it is still pending.
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In 2018, the chairman of the CII announced that a nikah can be performed at any age but the

rukhsati can only take place after the age of 18. This shows that the coexistence of multiple legal

systems in Pakistan makes resolving this problem more complex. Only if a single law is passed

that governs the whole nation, will this problem start to decrease. Many examples of this are

prevalent in Pakistan even today. Earlier this year, the case of Dua Zehra and Nimra Kazmi

outraged the public. Both 14-year-olds, went missing from Karachi, Sindh. They rejected claims

of being kidnapped saying that they ran away to get married of their own free will. While it is

unclear if their marriage was forced or not, another fact is that both girls were, reportedly,

minors. So, since it is still illegal in Pakistan to marry at this age, child marriages like these are

still prevalent. This solution may work in Pakistan the same way it worked for other countries

only if the government takes a stand against this. According to a landless farmer in a village in

the district of Tando Allahyar, 200km northeast of Karachi, child marriage is connected with

tradition, culture, and customary practices. “Only the government can stop this tradition in our

community as we are ignorant people and we cannot stop it by ourselves. If the government

ensures the implementation of the law forbidding child marriages, we will breathe a sigh of

relief.” (Shah & Rehman, 2017)

This shows that these solutions are not taking advantage of a behavioral bias. A

behavioral bias is something that can unconsciously influence one decision-making. In the case

of this report, these solutions mentioned are a step toward eradicating or at least reducing the

practice of early marriages, thus they are not taking advantage of the biases but they are

changing the way of thinking of the public.

How would the solutions to early marriages be tested?

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According to a study, in Uganda, a girls’ club runs through BRAC Uganda, a department

of the Bangladesh-primarily based totally global company BRAC, has validated success. Some

1,500 golf equipment in Uganda provide games, music, intercourse education, economic literacy,

vocational training, and get admission to microfinance for younger ladies seeking to emerge as

entrepreneurs. Girls who've been contributors to the club for 2 years are fifty eight percent much

less in all likelihood to marry early. This study shows that people who were part of this club

were likely to not experience an early marriage which pretty much justifies that such education

campaigns can help prevent early marriages (Malhotra & Elnakib, 2021).

Furthermore, evaluations should be done to check which approaches work effectively in

the developing countries. In a previously studied article, electronic databases and grey literature

have been used to conduct these evaluations to check the effect of the solutions on child

marriages. According to its results, overall 30 research met the inclusion criteria. Interventions

that assist girls' education through money or in-type transfers display the clearest sample of

achievement in stopping marriages at an early age, with eight of 10 medium-excessive fine

research displaying high-quality consequences. Although constrained in number, 5 research on

favorable activity markets and focused lifestyles talents and livelihoods education display steady

high-quality consequences. Comparatively, monetary transfers conditional on delaying marriage

display achievement best amongst of 4 evaluations, and the 3 research on unconditional

monetary transfers for poverty mitigation display no effect. Findings additionally display a low

achievement charge for multicomponent interventions with high-quality consequences in best

one in all 8 medium-excessive fine research. Further, unmarried peoples' interventions had been

more likely to be at a scale and sustainable than multicomponent interventions. So by looking at

this example we can conduct surveys by using qualitative and quantitative methods of research
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and see how the rate of early marriages has increased, decreased, or stayed the same with these

solutions (Malhotra & Elnakib, 2021).

A legal approach to early marriages, for this a very strong legal framework needs to be

set up which is backed up by government laws and policies that promote equal gender rights and

children's rights. If there is discrimination in the laws against protecting girls then actions should

be taken. For example, in India, the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act works on the regulation of

early child marriages. Furthermore, different policies should be checked and their results should

be evaluated by interviewing the families that have they been punished for not following the

laws or have the policies helped them. The young children suffering should also be interviewed

to check the effectiveness of the policies. (UNICEF, 2020).

Costs and benefits (to society) of preventing early marriages

The costs that the society and the government will have to incur will be the following.

The government would have to build in schools and a better education system. Government

schools should provide free-of-cost education to the girls from underprivileged areas along with

a relief program, providing them with school uniforms, books, and stationery which is an

additional cost for the government. Carrying out awareness campaigns will also add to society’s

costs. Providing girls with economic support and incentives to them and their families to

promote education is also a cost. The laws that are being passed out have to be implemented so

the resources used in order to implement them will also be a cost to the society. All these are

costs to the society as they’ll have to let go of something so that they can fulfill the solutions to

end early child marriages. However, the benefits of preventing early child marriages overweigh
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the costs. Preventing early marriage means that a girl/boy can get higher education. Higher

education for girls means that the girls who will be mothers and house-makers in the future can

be wiser and groom better children so a better future generation. It also means that the population

can be controlled to a great extent hence the economy will also boost as there will be more

women in the working force so the national income will also increase which means that poverty

will also reduce as there will be more savings in terms of dollars and the living standards will

also get better.

The overall atmosphere of the society will become healthier as more educated people so

less domestic violence and better future planning (Montazeri, et al., 2016).

Conclusion

Hence, it is noteworthy that early marriages are a prevalent problem within Pakistan and

many other countries around the world. It is not only brought about by individual behavioral

biases but are brought about my societal pressures and external factors. Solutions such as

increasing education and law enforcement were proposed, analyzing their marginal benefits and

costs to households, government and the costs & benefits to society. However, the solutions

proposed would only work to an extent, as a lot of hard work is needed to bring real change in

society.
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References
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Available at: https://www.dawn.com/news/1675775
[Accessed 20 February 2022].
Kohno, A., Techasrivichien, T. & Dahlu, M., 2020. Investigation of the key factors that influence
the girls to enter into child marriage: A meta-synthesis of qualitative evidence.
Malhotra, A. & Elnakib, S., 2021. 20 Years of the Evidence Base on What Works to Prevent
Child Marriage: A Systematic Review. Journal of Adolescent Health, 68(5), pp. 847-862.
Montazeri, S., Gharacheh, M., Mohammadi, N. & Alaghband, J., 2016. Determinants of Early
Marriage from Married Girls’ Perspectives in Iranian Setting: A Qualitative Study. Journal of
Environmental and Public Health.
N.Kirkpatrick, 2015. Washingonpost. [Online]
Available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/08/28/the-saddest-
bride-i-have-ever-seen-child-marrige-is-as-popular-as-ever-in-bangladesh/
[Accessed 28 August 2015].
R.Psaki, S., Misunas, C. & J.Melnikas, A., 2021. What Are the Drivers of Child Marriage? A
Conceptual Framework to Guide Policies and Programs. Journal of Adolescent Health.
N.A. Shah & A. Cheema, 2017. Stolen childhoods: The dilemma of child marriage in rural
Sindh.
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/2017/07/13/stolen-childhoods-the-dilemma-of-child-marriage
in-rural-sindh/
UNICEF, 2021. Towards Ending Child Marriage
https://Towards-Ending-Child-Marriage-report-2021.pdf
UNFPA, 2020. Child Marriages.
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https://pakistan.unfpa.org/en/topics/child-marriage-4