The impact of child marriage on the sub-Saharan African economy

Abstract

Child marriage is a cultural and religious practice amongst people of different ethnicities and religious factions. The practice is particularly prevalent in the poorer parts of Africa and Asia. What is the link between poverty and child marriage and why is the practice more prevalent in poorer regions? For many years, researchers and activists have focused on the human rights aspects of child marriage and have offered the view that poverty fuels child marriage. This paper looks at the relationship between poverty and child marriage from a different angle: that child marriage feminises poverty and decreases the economic participation of women in sub-Saharan Africa, leading to economic stagnation in the region. This paper focuses on the seven countries within sub-Saharan Africa with the highest incidents of child marriage and explores the education levels, economic participation and social capital of women in these countries, in order to establish whether or not child marriage influences poverty. The research offered in this paper clearly shows that child marriage is one of the many causes of poverty. I conclude this paper by recommending that law makers and activists consider the economic impact of child marriage in the agenda to eradicate poverty in sub-Saharan Africa.