Evidences of Early Marriages and Age at First Marriage as Proximate Determinant of Fertility in Bangladesh

Age at first marriage has a major effect on childbearing because women who marry early have, on average, a longer period of exposure to the risk of becoming pregnant and a greater number of lifetime births. To reduce fertility, early marriages should be prohibited and necessary interventions are required. But what’s the nature and extent of age at first marriage in Bangladesh under the legal age of marriage is 18 years for women needs to be explored. This study uses the fifth rounds of Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys (1993-2007) following descriptive method of analysis. Result shows that although the legal age of marriage in Bangladesh is 18 years for women, a large proportion of marriages still take place before the legal age. Within a given age cohort, there is much greater variation in the proportion of men marrying by different ages than in the proportion of women marrying by those same ages. As the use of law as a means of regulating early marriage is in no way sufficient it should be encouraged to create a policy environment that supports later marriage, through legal reform, and affirmative policies and programs on behalf of women those who are vulnerable.