Child marriage, marital disruption, and marriage thereafter: evidence from a national survey

BACKGROUND: This study examines the relationship between women’s ages at their first marriages and the marital disruption among those who experienced child marriages and those who did not as well as identifies some compromises that women make in their remarriages after previous marital disruptions. METHODS: The data of 57,476 women from the 2019 Bangladesh Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey were analysed using multivariable logistic and linear regressions. Women’s compromises in their remarriages were examined by determining the age differences with their current husbands, whether the current husband has another wife and their attitudes toward the justification of intimate partner violence by husbands. RESULTS: Almost 65% of women experienced child marriage, and its prevalence is higher in rural (66.5%) than in urban areas (59.2%). The probability of marital disruptions decreases as the ages at the first marriages rise among women who experienced child marriages and increase among women who did not. Women living in rural areas are less likely than those living in urban areas to report marital dissolution (AOR 0.81, 95% CI 0.73–0.90). Also, women who completed relatively more years of education or have greater wealth are less likely to report marital disruptions and those who never gave birth are more likely to report these (AOR 3.54, 95% CI 3.14–3.99). Women who remarried after previous disruptions are more likely to report that their new husbands are, on average, almost 12 years older than they are, and have another wife. Also, those who experienced marital disruptions are more likely than others to believe that husbands are justified in beating their wives in certain circumstances. CONCLUSION: The odd of marital disruption decreases with the ages at first marriage among women who experienced child marriage and increase among women who did not. There is a curvilinear relationship between women’s ages at their first marriages and the probability of marital disruptions. Making compromises in remarriages after disruptions is common. Because marital disruption is increasing, appropriate policies are needed to address the adverse outcomes of divorces that ensue.