Adolescent marriage is still the norm in Bangladesh, but trends show that marital age is rising

The large majority of women in Bangladesh marry as adolescents, although the prevalence of the practice has declined somewhat in recent decades. According to an analysis of 2011 national survey data from ever-married women of reproductive age, (1) nearly four in five women (78%) had married for the first time before age 18, which is the legal age in Bangladesh. The likelihood of adolescent marriage was lower among women with at least a secondary education than among those with no formal education (odds ratios, 0.1-0.6) and was lower among women whose husband had at least a secondary education than among those whose husband had no formal education (0.5-0.8). Being in the highest wealth group rather than the lowest and living in an urban area rather than a rural one were also negatively associated with adolescent marriage (0.7 and 0.6, respectively); Muslim women were more likely than women of other religions to have married before age 18 (1.9). The proportion of women...