Analyzing factors associated with time to age at first marriage among women in Ethiopia: log logistic-gamma shared frailty model

Abstract

Objective The main objective of this study is to fit Log logistic-Gamma shared frailty model for the determinant of time to age at first marriage among women in Ethiopia. Methods The data set in this study were obtained from Demography and Health survey conducted in Ethiopia in 2016. In this study, we used Log logistic-Gamma shared frailty model to account for the loss of independence that arises from the clustering of women in region of Ethiopia. A total of 12,066 women aged 15–49 in Ethiopia were included in this study. Results Of all 12,066 women aged 15–49, 9466 (78.45%) were married and the median & mean age at first marriage for women living in Ethiopia were 17.2 years and 17.5 years respectively, while the minimum and maximum age at first marriage observed were 8 years and 49 years respectively. Conclusion The most significant contributing factors to delaying time to age at first marriage of women aged 15–49 in Ethiopia were increased education level of women, increased education level of the head, increased income, residing in urban and being followers of religion other than orthodox, catholic, protestant & Muslim. The heterogeneity of age at first marriage for women aged 15–49 among regions in Ethiopia was observed. The government of Ethiopia and the concerned bodies should revise the women's health policy and practice to reduce early marriage and give attention to women; illiterate, live in rural areas, and have illiterate and poor heads.

Prevalence and factors associated with teenage pregnancy in Sierra Leone: evidence from a nationally representative Demographic and Health Survey of 2019

“…This is in line with findings by a systematic review of studies from across Africa that indicated that the odds of first adolescent pregnancy was higher with increasing age [ 6 ]. This may be attributed to a common practice of forcing girls in this age group into early marriages(given that most studies show this age group as the average age of marriage) which exposes them to unsafe sex practices since they are not empowered enough to use contraceptives which increases their chances of getting pregnant [ 32 – 34 ]. Interestingly and uniquely with this analysis, all teenagers, regardless of their wealth quintile had higher odds of teenage pregnancy compared to their counterparts in the richest quintile.…”