Spatial analysis for understanding contextual factors of variation in early marriage trends in Bangladesh

Early marriage has been identified in Southeast Asia as a determinant of lower health and social indicators than girls that marry at an older age. Early marriage can affect educational, social and economic opportunities, as well as the health status of the woman and her offspring. Bangladesh has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world, and late marriage in Bangladesh is seen as a major pressure on families and social and cultural norms.
In Bangladesh, there have been many surveys focused on health and social indicators in Bangladesh. These surveys show differences in health indicators across Bangladesh. Eastern Bangladesh has some of the worst health indicators in the country and are worse than areas of western Bangladesh. However, eastern regions have a much higher mean age at marriage than other regions of Bangladesh. Based upon data from these surveys, early marriage is not directly related to poorer health outcomes across Bangladesh, and late or delayed marriage is not directly related to better health outcomes. This study will apply spatial regressions and spatial regime analysis, to understand the independent variables that factor into age at first marriage variation across districts and regions in Bangladesh.