The Impact of Child’s Right Act Adoption on Adolescent Fertility and School Enrolment in Nigeria

Lydia Adeoye , Student at the Department of Economics - Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife

Child marriage has been found to be the key driver of adolescent pregnancy, and this has implications for adolescent mothers and their children. In the year 2003, the National Assembly passed the Child Rights Act (CRA), stipulating that the minimum age of marriage is 18. However, as at 2018 (i.e., 15 years later), only 24 out of Nigeria’s 36 states have domesticated the policy. This study seeks to evaluate the impact of the change in marriage laws in Nigeria on adolescent fertility and school enrolment. By adopting the Staggered difference-in-differences estimation method and making use of the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey datasets for 2003, 2008, 2013, and 2018, this study is expected to provide insights to the socio-economic outcomes of adolescent childbearing across geopolitical zones in Nigeria, and to understand the impact of the adoption of CRA on adolescent fertility and school enrolment.

See extended abstract

 Presented in Session P1. Fertility, Family, Life Course