Socioeconomic Determinants of Age at Marriage in Malawi

Martin E. Palamuleni, North-West University, South Africa

Although age at first marriage has important demographic and health consequences for any population, no systematic analysis of changes in the timing of marriage has been conducted in Malawi. The purpose of this study is to indentify factors affecting age at marriage among women in Malawi. This study used data obtained from 2000 and 2004 Malawi Demographic and Health surveys. Univariate, bivariate and logistic regressions were employed to examine the relationship between age at marriage and selected background variables. Nearly 70% of the respondents were married before the age of 18 years and the mean age at first marriage is 17.4 years. Age at marriage varies by age, region, rural-urban residence, religion, ethnicity and wealth. The findings from logistics regressions indicate that age, region, education, religion and ethnicity are the most important determinants of age at marriage in Malawi. The policy implications of the results are discussed.