Motherhood in Childhood

“All of a sudden the world
became a lonely place. I felt
excluded from my family
and the community. I no
longer fitted in as a young
person, nor did I fit in as
a woman.”
Tarisai, 20, pregnant at 16, Zimbabwe
varies substantially across countries, ranging from
2 per cent in Algeria to 75 per cent in Niger,
which has the world’s fifth-lowest per capita
gross national income (World Bank, 2013).
While child marriages are declining among
girls under age 15, 50 million girls could still
be at risk of being married before their 15th
birthday in this decade.
Today, one in nine girls in developing countries
is forced into marriage before age 15. In
Bangladesh, Chad and Niger, more than one in
three girls is married before her 15th birthday. In
Ethiopia, one in six girls is married by age 15.
Age differences within unions or marriages
also influence adolescent pregnancy rates.
ADOLESCENT BIRTH RATES (DATA FROM 79 COUNTRIES)
By Region
By Background Characteristics
West &
Central Africa
East &
Southern Africa
Latin America
& Caribbean
World
Arab States
50
50
79
23
109
129
Developing
Countries
Rural
Urban
No Education
Primary
Secondary
or Higher
56
56
85
103
119
154
South Asia
Eastern Europe &
Central Asia
East Asia
& Pacific
0 50 100 150
20
31
49
Poorest
Second
Middle
Fourth
Richest
118
109
95
77
42
0 50 100 150 200
Source: UNFPA, 2013.
10 CHAPTER 1: A GLOBAL CHALLENGE