Cross-Sectional Time Series Analysis of Associations between Education and Girl Child Marriage in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan, 1991-2011

BackgroundGirl education is believed to be the best means of reducing girl child marriage (marriage 20%) of girl child marriage- Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan.MethodsCross-sectional time series analyses were conducted on Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) from 1991 to 2011 in the four focal nations. Analyses were restricted to ever-married women aged 20–24 years. Multinomial logistic regression models were used to assess the effect of highest level of education received (none, primary, secondary or higher) on age at marriage (ResultsIn Bangladesh and Pakistan, primary education was not protective against girl child marriage; in Nepal, it was protective against marriage at ConclusionPrimary education is likely insufficient to reduce girl child marriage in South Asia, outside of India. Secondary education may be a better protective strategy against this practice for the region, but may be less effective for prevention of marriage among older relative to younger adolescents.