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Kenya - one of the leaders in Africa's fertility fall, but 28% are mothers by 18. |
There is still one country - Niger - where half of all women give birth before the age of 18. In 17 other countries surveyed by the DHS programme, mainly in Africa, more than a quarter of all girls become pregnant before the age of 18.
The maternal death rate is three times higher for teenage mothers than for women in the 20-29 age group. Teenage pregnancy also tends to close off opportunities for education and training.
The younger a woman is when she first gives birth, the longer her total child-bearing period and the more children she is likely to have. This, too, increases the risks to the life and health of both mothers and children.
Many countries set a lower minimum age of marriage for females than for males. In 6 of the 21 sub-Saharan African countries surveyed, the median age at marriage was less than 18. In Bangladesh, Guinea, Mali, Niger, and Yemen, more than half of the young women interviewed were married by the time they were 16 years old.
According to the International Women's Rights Action Watch: "There are a number of reasons to insist that girls not be married until they are a sufficient age to make an informed choice. The first is that as a matter of basic human right no person should undertake such a momentous act without full knowledge of its import, and no child can understand the full social and physical import of marriage. Another is that child-bearing at too early an age can severely damage a girl's reproductive and general health, causing such problems as obstructed labour, sometimes bleeding to death, and vesico-vaginal fistula, leading to social ostracism as well as health problems."
Proportion of women aged 20-24 years at time of survey who had their first birth by age 18
% aged 20-24 % aged 20-24
mothers by 18 mothers by 18
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Niger 53 Bolivia 19
Guinea 49 Indonesia 19
Mali 47 Namibia 18
Cameroon 46 Dominican Rep. 17
Liberia 44 Pakistan 17
Uganda 42 Sudan 17
Malawi 38 Ecuador 16
Nigeria 35 Paraguay 16
Senegal 34 Egypt 15
Zambia 34 Colombia 13
Burkina Faso 32 Trinidad/Tob. 13
Madagascar 31 Peru 12
Togo 30 Turkey 11
Guatemala 28 Thailand 9
Kenya 28 Rwanda 8
Tanzania 28 Burundi 8
Yemen 27 Jordan 8
Botswana 26 Philippines 8
Zimbabwe 25 Morocco 7
Ghana 23 Sri Lanka 5
Mexico 22 Tunisia 3
Viet Nam 3
Source: DHS surveys.
Birth and marriage
Median age at first marriage and at first birth among women aged 25-29
Median Median
age first age at
married first birth
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Sub-Saharan Africa
Rwanda 21 22
Burundi 20 21
Namibia * 21
Ghana 19 20
Madagascar 19 20
Nigeria 17 20
Tanzania 19 20
Zimbabwe 19 20
Botswana 25 19
Burkina Faso 18 19
Cameroon 17 19
Kenya 20 19
Liberia 18 19
Malawi 18 19
Mali 16 19
Senegal 17 19
Togo 18 19
Uganda 18 19
Zambia 18 19
Guinea 16 18
Niger 15 18
Asia, Middle East & North Africa
Morocco 19 25
Sri Lanka 23 25
Tunisia 23 25
Jordan 21 23
Philippines 22 23
Sudan 21 23
Thailand 21 23
Viet Nam 21 23
Egypt 20 22
Turkey 20 22
Pakistan 19 21
Indonesia 19 20
Yemen 16 20
Bangladesh 15 18
Nepal 17 -
Latin America & the Caribbean
Colombia 23 23
Brazil 21 22
Dominican Rep. 20 22
Paraguay 21 22
Peru 22 22
Trinidad/Tobago 20 22
Bolivia 21 21
Ecuador 20 21
Mexico 20 21
Guatemala 19 20
* Omitted because fewer than 50 per cent are married by 25.
- Data not collected in survey.
The ages given here are median ages, the median being the mid-point
for an indicator: 50% of the individuals surveyed fall below the
median, and 50% above.
Sources: First marriage: updated from DHS Program, Women's lives and experiences, 1994. First birth: DHS surveys.