Teenage or adolescent pregnancies occur in girls and women below the age of twenty. It also includes women who have attained the age of majority but become pregnant in their teens.
On the other hand, child marriages are unions between girls or boys who are yet to attain the age of majority. In Kenya, the 2019 census observed that 4.1% of girls aged 12 – 15 were married compared to 3.9% of males in the same age group. Of females aged 12 – 18 in 2019, 6.1% were married.[1]
Child marriages lead to higher teenage pregnancies.
There is a strong link between child marriages and increased fertility rates of a population.[2] The earlier a person marries, the more likely they are to engage in sexual intercourse and consequently have children.
As a result, child marriages lower the median age at first sexual intercourse among girls while at the same time increasing the number of teen pregnancies in the population. In Kenya, we find evidence of this link by plotting counties based on their rates of child marriages and teenage pregnancies, as shown below.
Each dot represents a Kenyan county with its teenage pregnancy rate on the vertical axis and girl-child marriage rate on the horizontal axis. The direction of the relationship suggests that increasing child marriage rate consequently leads to a higher rate of teenage pregnancies.
A correlational study shows that teenage pregnancy rates and child marriages are strongly associated (r = 0.62, p < 0.000003), with counties with a higher girl-child marriage rate also having high levels of teenage pregnancy rates.
For instance, Samburu County, with a child marriage rate of 13.4%, had a disproportionately high rate of teenage pregnancies of 50.1%. West Pokot, with a girl child marriage rate of 11.5%, had a teenage pregnancy rate of 36.3%. Marsabit County, with a child marriage rate of 11%, had a teenage pregnancy rate of 29.4%.
In contrast, Nyeri County, with a girl child marriage rate of 3.4%, had a teenage pregnancy rate of 4.5%. Nyandarua, with a child marriage rate of 3.7%, had a teenage pregnancy rate of 5.2%.[3] [4] The clear association between both variables suggests that ending teen marriages requires ending child marriages wherever they exist.
A limitation of the data used above is that the DHS, which offers statistics on teenage pregnancies, only focuses on girls aged 15 – 19, leaving out those aged 13 and 14. Therefore, it is likely to underestimate the teenage pregnancy rate in a population. Moreover, the 2019 census data focused on children aged 12 – 18, leaving out nineteen-year-olds, who comprise a significant share of teenagers who marry in any given year. DHS data is also much more recent than the census data.
See Also
- Teenage pregnancy rates by county
- Child marriages and higher fertility rates
- Child marriages by county
- Marriage rates in Kenya by county
- Polygamy by county
References
[1] KNBS (2022). 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census: Analytical report on fertility and nuptiality. Vol. VI
[2] Onagoruwa, A., & Wodon, Q. (2018). Measuring the impact of child marriage on total fertility: A study for fifteen countries. Journal of Biosocial Science, 50(5), 626-639.
[3] KNBS (2022). 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census: Analytical report on fertility and nuptiality. Vol. VI
[4] KNBS and ICF. (2023). Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022: Volume 1. Nairobi, Kenya, and Rockville, Maryland, USA: KNBS and ICF.
