Status of Child Marriage among Married Adolescent and Youth (A&Y) Women in Nepal

Manusha Paudel, Assistant Professor
Ram Chandra Pokhrel, REED Nepal, USAID, Early Grade Learning

Child marriage in Nepal is persists despite the governmental and non-governmental efforts. Data for this study was extracted from Nepal Demographic and Health Survey 2021, publicly available data set to examines the status of child marriage among adolescent and youth women, focusing on knowledge, awareness, and physical health status. Cross-tabulation and bivariate logistic regression were applied to show the association between variables. Findings reveal that 58.6 percent women aged 20-24 were married before age of 18, with a mean age of 17.18 at first marriage. More than half of women (51%) had given birth before the age of 20. Additionally, women were found to have a high unmet need for Family Planning (29%) and experience a higher level of pregnancy loss (14%). Bivariate logistic regression analysis showed that women who married before the age of 15 had 1.5 times higher reported pregnancy loss while those who married 15-17 years reported 1.2 times higher pregnancy loss, both of which were statistically significant. In conclusion to achieve Nepal's goal of ending child marriage by 2030, there is a need for increased awareness, improved access to education and healthcare, and addressing socio-economic barriers to delay marriage and improve health outcomes among young women.

Keywords: Children, Adolescents, and Youth, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

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