Effect of Conflict on Age at Marriage and Age at First Birth in Rwanda

Citation:

Jayaraman, Anuja, Tesfayi Gebreselassie, and S. Chandrasekhar. 2009. “Effect of Conflict on Age at Marriage and Age at First Birth in Rwanda.” Population Research and Policy Review 28 (5): 551–67.

Authors: Anuja Jayaraman, Tesfayi Gebreselassie, S. Chandrasekhar

Abstract:

Using Rwanda Demographic and Health Survey 2005 data, we estimate a Cox proportioanl hazard model to identify the determinates of age at marriage and age at first birth and whether these decisions were affected by conflict. We find that women living in clusters accounting for a larger proportion of sibling deaths in 1994, the year of the genocide, were more likely to marry later and have children later compared to those living in clusters accounting for a lower proportion of sibling deaths. Women living in regions with higher levels of under-five mortality were more likely to have their first child earlier compared with women living in regions with lower infant mortality. The age at marriage was probably affected by two reasons: the change in age structure and sex ration of the population following the genocide, and the breakdown of kinship in the case of women who lost siblings.

Topics: Age, Armed Conflict, Gender, Women, Genocide, Households Regions: Africa, Central Africa, East Africa Countries: Rwanda

Year: 2009