NMICS 2010 Report - Central Bureau of Statistics

NMICS 2010, Mid- and Far Western Regionsaddress cases of child marriage; and the existence of customary or religious laws that condone thepractice.Closely related to the issue of child marriage is the age at which girls become sexually active. Womenwho are married before the age of 18 years tend to have more children than those who marry laterin life. Pregnancy-related deaths are known to be a leading cause of mortality for both married andunmarried girls between the ages of 15 and 19 years, particularly among the youngest of this cohort.There is evidence to suggest that girls who marry at a young age are more likely to marry older men,which puts them at increased risk of HIV infection. The pressures on a young wife to start havingchildren and the power imbalance resulting from the age differential lead to very low condom useamong such couples. The current legal age for marriage in Nepal is 18 years for both women andmen with parental consent and 20 years for both women and men without parental consent.Indicators used for early marriage are the percentage of women aged 15–49 years who first marriedor entered a marital union before their 15th birthday, the percentage of women aged 20–49 yearswho first married or entered a marital union before their 18th birthday and the percentage ofwomen aged 15–19 years who are currently married or in a marital union. The percentage of womenmarried at various ages is provided in Table CP.5. Some 16 percent of women aged 15–49 years inthe MFWR first married or entered a marital union before their 15th birthday and 60 percent ofwomen aged 20–49 years first married or entered a marital union before their 18th birthday. Slightlymore than one quarter (26 percent) of women aged 15–19 years were currently married.Of women aged 15–49 years who first married or entered a marital union before their 15th birthday,there was little variation by region, subregion, urban/rural area or wealth status. However, youngerwomen were less likely than older women to be married before their 15th birthday: only fourpercent of women currently aged 15–19 years were married before their 15th birthday compared to24 percent of women currently aged 45–49 years. A woman’s education level also increased thelikelihood of her being married before her 15th birthday: 22 percent of women with no educationwere married before their 15th birthday compared to six percent of women with at least secondaryeducation.Of women aged 20–49 years who first married or entered a marital union before their 18th birthday,there was little variation by region or subregion. Urban women (51 percent) were less likely thanrural women (61 percent) to be married before their 18th birthday. Younger women were less likelythan older women to be married before their 18th birthday: only 50 percent of women currentlyaged 20–24 years were married before their 18th birthday compared to 71 percent of womencurrently aged 45–49 years. A woman’s education level increased the likelihood of her being marriedbefore her 18th birthday: 67 percent of women with no education were married before their 18thbirthday compared to 38 percent of women with at least secondary education. Household wealthstatus also had an influence: 66 percent of women in the poorest quintile were married before their18th birthday compared to 54 percent of women in the richest quintile.Of women aged 15–19 years who were currently married, there was little variation by region orsubregion. Urban women aged 15–19 years (18 percent) were less likely than rural women aged 15–19 years (27 percent) to be currently married. Level of education and household wealth status bothinfluenced the likelihood of being currently married. Young women with no education (57 percent)were more likely than young women with at secondary education (18 percent) to be currentlymarried and young women from the poorest quintile (37 percent) were more than young womenfrom the richest quintile (22 percent) to be currently married.152