Women Educational Advancement in Sub-Saharan Africa: Situation Analysis of Consequence of Double Harmful Socio-demographic Practices

Background: Early childbearing (EC) and Child Marriage (CM) are harmful demographic practices that often limit girls’ opportunities in life including education. We aim to examine the independent and joint influence of Age at First Birth (AFB) and Age at First Marriage/Cohabitation (AFMC) on educational attainment.

Methodology: We utilized Demographic and Health Survey dataset on women aged 25-49 years from 16 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Data were analysed using linear and logistic regression (α=.05).

Results: Mean AFB ranges from 18.66±4.0 years in Uganda through 21.31±3.8 years in Burundi. Also, the mean AFMC was highest in Namibia (23.58±6.1) and least in Burkina Faso (17.76±3.0). The highest proportion of women attaining At Least Secondary Education (ALSE) was found in Zambia (62.2%) and least in Burkina-Faso (5.9%). Independently and jointly, EC and CM hinder educational advancement. In Burundi, as the case for other 15 countries, the likelihood of attaining ALSE was higher (OR=2.76; C.I=1.82-4.18, p<0.001) among women who had first birth at ages ≥18years than their counterparts who had theirs at ages <18 years. In Nigeria, the likelihood of attaining ALSE was 7.52(C.I=6.97-8.10; p<0.001) more than that of those who married earlier than 18years. Interaction of the influence of AFB and AFMC also produce positive effect on number of years of schooling in all the studied countries.

Conclusion: Early childbearing and CM have strong negative influence on educational advancement of women in sub-Saharan Africa. Policies targeting these harmful practices should be enacted in the region.