Risk factors associated with the practice of child marriage among Roma girls in Serbia

Abstract

BackgroundRelatively little research on the issue of child marriage has been conducted in European countries where the overall prevalence of child marriage is relatively low, but relatively high among marginalized ethnic sub-groups. The purpose of this study is to assess the risk factors associated with the practice of child marriage among females living in Roma settlements in Serbia and among the general population and to explore the inter-relationship between child marriage and school enrollment decisions.MethodsThe study is based on data from a nationally representative household survey in Serbia conducted in 2010 – and a separate survey of households living in Roma settlements in the same year. For each survey, we estimated a bivariate probit model of risk factors associated with being currently married and currently enrolled in school based on girls 15 to 17 years of age in the nationally representative and Roma settlements samples.ResultsThe practice of child marriage among the Roma was found to be most common among girls who lived in poorer households, who had less education, and who lived in rural locations. The results of the bivariate probit analysis suggest that, among girls in the general population, decisions about child marriage school attendance are inter-dependent in that common unobserved factors were found to influence both decisions. However, among girls living in Roma settlements, there is only weak evidence of simultaneous decision making.ConclusionThe study finds evidence of the interdependence between marriage and school enrollment decisions among the general population and, to a lesser extent, among the Roma. Further research is needed on child marriage among the Roma and other marginalized sub-groups in Europe, and should be based on panel data, combined with qualitative data, to assess the role of community-level factors and the characteristics of households where girls grow up on child marriage and education decisions.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12914-016-0081-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Knowledge Attitude and Practices (KAP) towards child marriage among married women residing in Nandyal - A Qualitative study

“…Majority are gave first child birth at the age of 15 years. In a study done by Pandey & Singh age at the time of marriage was ≤16years (39%) (13).At this age girl is not physically developed to give child birth. This in turn leads to morbidity and mortality.…”

Differential effects of young maternal age on child growth

“…The analyses in this study are based on a broader body of work in which a number of aspects of child marriage were explored (11, 12). …”

Child marriage in the Western Balkan region: Where does the best interest of the child stand?

“…Скратувањето на образованието ги прави девојчињата да пораснат со попречено чувство да го изразат своето мислење cycle of low education, high fertility and poverty (Jarallah, 2008). In Serbia, 22 percent of Roma females aged 20-24 years with no formal education and 12.6 percent of those with primary education were married at the age of 14 or younger (Hotchkiss et al, 2016). The average number of births of Roma women who never attended school in Albania was 3.5 compared to 1.9 of those who were educated (INSTAT, 2015).…”

“…Moreover, struggling caregivers in poverty-striking areas may view the marriage of their orphaned girls as a better opportunity for them (ICM&EC, 2013). Data from Serbia indicate that in 2010 child marriage in poor Roma neighborhood was higher than that of females living in the poorest quartile of the households in the general population(Hotchkiss et al, 2016).…”