Abstract
One in every 5 Mexican young women 20–24 years old marry before the age of 18. While child marriage is more common in rural areas and among less privileged girls in terms of education or socioeconomic status, rates are still high for young women living in urban areas (23%), those with upper-secondary education (15%) and from the middle class (13%). In this chapter, we focus on the interconnected causes and consequences of early family formation during the transition to adulthood; we aim to highlight the role of early marriage in premature childbearing and its relation to early school leaving. International studies about the consequences of child marriage suggest that child marriage often compromises girls’ and adolescents’ development and well-being throughout their life course by resulting in early pregnancy, interrupting schooling, and limiting opportunities for labor force participation, thus continuing the circle of poverty. Accordingly, our results suggest that Mexican child-brides spend, on average, 4 years less in formal education than their peers who married after the age of 18. Nine out of ten child-brides also give birth to a first child before the age of 20. Therefore, during the transition to adulthood, early marriage is related to early departure from formal education and to teenage pregnancy and childbearing, thus contributing to inequalities that start early in life and continue throughout the life course. Our findings suggest that eradicating child marriage in Mexico would have several spill-over benefits, given its link to many of the dimensions covered by the SDGs.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
During the first decade of this century, there was a large increase in lower secondary education (7 to 9 years of schooling). In the poorest states (Oaxaca and Chiapas), the expansion was possible because of the increase in the number of students enrolled in distance learning (telesecundarias). Although the official goals of coverage were fulfilled, social inequality was not reduced as the quality of education and the test results for students in this modality were notoriously lower (Cárdenas 2010).
- 2.
The ENAPEA recognizes that the sexual and reproductive behavior and needs of single and married/cohabiting teenage mothers are different and encourages institutions to address the two groups differently. However, there are no specific policies to decrease child marriage rates among girls and teenagers.
- 3.
According to Elder (1998), there are four life course principles: historical time and place, timing of lives, linked or interdependent lives, and human agency.
- 4.
The life table is a demographic technique developed for describing and summarizing event occurrence data. It uses event histories of a given population tracking events from the beginning of time, when no event has yet occurred, to the end of data collection. All individuals are exposed to the risk of failure or event occurrence, i.e., enter the risk set, at the beginning of time, and leave the risk set at the time when the target event occurs or when data collection ends. Individuals that survive the event by the end of the observation window are considered censored cases. Life table estimates of the risk of event occurrence include information of failure and censored cases as both contribute, person-years of exposure to the risk of event occurrence, to the risk set. For a good introduction to life table and survival analysis see, for example, Singer and Willet (2003, Chaps. 10–15).
- 5.
The Mexican educational system is divided into four segments: (1) primary, grades 1–6; (2) lower secondary, grades 7–9; (3) upper secondary, grades 10–12; and (4) university or college education, where the number of years required to graduate varies by the major of study. Since 2013, compulsory or mandatory education covers up to the completion of upper secondary.
References
Angoa, A., Blanco, E., & Giorguli, S. (2017). Educación, trabajo y empoderamiento económico: una mirada con perspectiva de género. In C. J. Echarri (Ed.), Adaptación y adecuación de las políticas públicas basadas en evidencias dirigidas a la igualdad sustantiva entre mujeres y hombres en México con los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (p. 66). México: El Colegio de México, UN-Women.
Arceo-Gómez, E. O., & Campos-Vázquez, R. M. (2014). Teenage pregnancy in Mexico: Evolution and consequences. Latin American Journal of Economics, 51(1), 109–146. https://doi.org/10.7764/LAJE.51.1.109.
Ariza, M., & Oliveira, O. (2005). Unión conyugal e interrupción de la trayectoria laboral de las trabajadoras urbanas en México. In M. L. Coubès, M. E. Zavala, & R. Zenteno (Eds.), Cambio Social y Demográficoen el México del Siglo XX: Una Perspectiva de Historias de Vida (pp. 429–452). Tijuana: El Colegio de la Frontera Norte.
Bajracharya, A., & Amin, S. (2012). Poverty, marriage timing, and transitions to adulthood in Nepal. Studies in Family Planning, 43(2), 79–92. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1728-4465.2012.00307.x.
Blanco, M., & Pacheco, M. E. (2003). Trabajo y familia desde el enfoque del curso de vida: Dos subcohortes de mujeres mexicanas. Papeles de Población, 38(4), 159–193.
Blossfeld, H.-P. (1995). Changes in the process of family formation and women’s growing economic independence: A comparison of nine countries. In H.-P. Blossfeld (Ed.), The new role of women: Family formation in modern societies (pp. 3–23). Boulder: Westview Press.
Booth, A., Brown, S., Landale, N. S., Manning, W. D., & McHale, S. M. (Eds.). (2012). Early adulthood in a family context. New York: Springer.
Cárdenas, C. (2010). Modalidades diferenciadas: educación comunitaria y telesecundaria. In A. Arnut & S. Giorguli (Eds.), Los Grandes Problemas de México (pp. 547–573). México: El Colegio de México.
Coubès, M.-L., & Zenteno, R. (2005). Transición hacia la vidaadulta en el contexto mexicano: una discusión a partir del modelo normativo. In M.-L. Coubès, M. E. Z. de Cosio, & R. Zenteno (Eds.), Cambio demográfico y social en el México del siglo XX. Una perspectiva de historias de vida (pp. 331–353). Tijuana: El Colegio de la Frontera Norte.
Echarri, C. J., & Perez-Amador, J. (2001). Becoming adults: Life course transitions in Mexican young people. Paper presented at the XXIV International Population Conference, International Union for the Scientific Study of Population, San Salvador Bahia, Brazil.
Echarri, C. J., & Perez-Amador, J. (2007). En tránsitohacia la adultez: eventos en el curso de vida de los jóvenes en México. EstudiosDemográficos y Urbanos, 22(1), 43–77.
Echarri, C. J., & Perez-Amador, J. (2016). Dejando atrás la juventud: Cambios y continuidades. In A. M. Chávez, C. J. Echarri, & R. Corona (Eds.), Los Jóvenes del Bicentenario: Encuesta Nacional de la Juventud 2010 (pp. 31–65). Cuernavaca: UNAM, Centro Regional de Investigaciones Multidisciplinarias.
Elder, G. H. (1985). Life course dynamics: Trajectories and transitions, 1968–1980. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Elder, G. H. (1998). The life course as developmental theory. Child Development, 69, 1–12.
Encuesta Nacional de la Dinámica Demográfica database. (2014). Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía, Mexico. http://www.beta.inegi.org.mx/proyectos/enchogares/especiales/enadid/2014/. Accessed 10 Nov 2017.
Encuesta Nacional de la Juventud database. (2010). Instituto Mexicano de la Juventud, Mexico. https://www.gob.mx/imjuve/documentos/basede-datos-de-la-encuesta-nacional-de-juventud-2010. Accessed 10 Nov 2017.
Giorguli, S. E. (2011). Caminos divergentes hacia la adultez en México. In G. Binstock & J. Melo-Vieira (Eds.), Nupcialidad y Familia en la América Latina Actual (pp. 123–162). Rio de Janeiro: Asociación Latinoamericana de Población.
Giorguli S., Solís, P., Benavides, M., Binstock, G., & Cerrutti, M. (2009). Institutional settings and adolescent paths out of school and into the labor force in Buenos Aires, Lima and Mexico City. Paper presented at the XXVI International Population Conference, International Union for the Scientific Study of Population, Marrakesh, Morocco.
Horbath, J. E. (2004). Primer empleo de los jóvenes en México. Papeles de Población, 10(42), 199–249.
Kidman, R. (2016). Child marriage and intimate partner violence: A comparative study of 34 countries. International Journal of Epidemiology, 46(2), 662–675. https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyw225.
Liefbroer, A. C. (2005). Transition from youth to adulthood in the Netherlands. In H.-P. Blossfeld, M. Mills, E. Klijzing, & K. Kurz (Eds.), Globalization, uncertainty and youth in society (pp. 83–113). London: Routledge.
Lindstrom, D. P., & Brambila-Paz, C. (2001). Alternative theories of the relationship of schooling and work to family formation: Evidence from Mexico. Social Biology, 48, 278–297.
Mills, M., & Blossfeld, H.-P. (2005). Globalization, uncertainty and the early life course. A theoretical framework. In H.-P. Blossfeld, M. Mills, E. Klijzing, & K. Kurz (Eds.), Globalization, uncertainty and youth in society (pp. 1–24). London: Routledge.
Oliveira, O., & Mora, M. (2008). Desigualdades sociales y transición a la adultez en el México contemporáneo. Papeles de Población, 4(57), 117–152.
Pantelides, E. A. (2004). Aspectos sociales del embarazo y la fecundidad adolescente en América Latina. Revista Notas de Población, 78, 7–33.
Perez-Amador, J. (2008). Análisis multiestado multivariado de la formación y disolución de las parejas conyugales en México. Estudios Demográficos y Urbanos, 23(3), 481–511.
Perez-Amador, J. (2009). The transition to marriage in times of social and demographic change: Educational attainment and family influences in Mexico. Dissertation, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Perez-Amador, J. (2016). Continuity and change of cohabitation in Mexico: Same as before or different anew. Demographic Research, 35, 1243–1257. https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2016.35.42.
Perez-Amador, J., & Giorguli, S. E. (2014). Las transiciones a la edad adulta en México y las políticas de atención a la juventud. In S. E. Giorguli & V. Ugalde (Eds.), Gobierno Territorio y Población: las Políticas Públicas en la Mira (pp. 263–313). México: El Colegio de México, Centro de Estudios Demográficos, Urbanos y Ambientales.
Perez-Amador, J., & Hernández, R. (2015). El Matrimonio en menores de edad en México. Coyuntura Demográfica, 4(8), 15–23.
Raymo, J. M. (2003). Educational attainment and the transition to first marriage among Japanese women. Demography, 40, 83–103.
Shanahan, M. J. (2000). Pathways to adulthood in changing societies: Variability and mechanisms in Life Course Perspective. Annual Reviews of Sociology, 26, 667–692.
Singer, J. D., & Willett, J. B. (2003). Applied longitudinal data analysis. Modeling change and event occurrence. New York: Oxford University Press.
Solís, P. (2004). Cambios recientes en la formación de uniones consensuales en México. In F. Lozano-Ascencio (Ed.), El amanecer del siglo y la población mexicana (pp. 351–370). Cuernavaca: Sociedad Mexicana de Demografía.
Stern, C. (2007). Estereotipos de género, relaciones sexuales y embarazo adolescente en las vidas de jóvenes de diferentes contextos socioculturales en México. Estudios Sociológicos, 25(73), 105–129.
Stern, C. (2012). El “problema” del embarazo en la adolescencia. El Colegio de México: Contribuciones a un debate. México.
Tuirán, R., & Zúñiga, E. (Eds.). (2000). Situación actual de las y los jóvenes en México. Diagnóstico sociodemográfico. México: Consejo Nacional de Población.
United Nations Population Fund. (2012). Marrying too young. End child marriage. New York: United Nations Population Fund.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Perez-Amador, J., Giorguli, S. (2018). Child Marriage and Early Transitions to Adulthood in Mexico. In: Verma, S., Petersen, A. (eds) Developmental Science and Sustainable Development Goals for Children and Youth. Social Indicators Research Series, vol 74. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96592-5_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96592-5_13
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-96591-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-96592-5
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)