New study finds economic impact of child birth before 18

A new study has found a “strong and consistent” lifelong negative association between giving birth before age 18 and a woman’s economic empowerment.

The research, released on Thursday at the Women Deliver 2019 Conference in Vancouver, points to the critical need to strengthen sexual and reproductive health and rights and expand economic opportunities for girls and women throughout their lives.

“The ability to earn and control cash represents more than just earnings—it influences a woman’s ability to make strategic life choices,” said Stephanie Psaki, deputy director of the Population Council’s Girl Center, at the press briefing.

The Population Council and Women Deliver jointly conducted the research and previewed the findings in the world’s largest conference on gender equality and the health, rights, and wellbeing of girls and women.

“This is one of the first studies to show consistently across so many countries and settings that having a child early can impact future earning potential,” Psaki said.

They drew data from nationally representative Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) in 43 low- and middle-income countries including Bangladesh, representing more than 600 million women.

With 59 percent of girls being married off before the age of 18, and of them 22 percent before the age of 15, the prevention of child marriage is an uphill task in Bangladesh.

Experts call it a ‘grave’ situation in which girls lose their opportunity to thrive. They also face various health risks when giving birth early.

Taken together these results demonstrate that when a woman gives birth before the age of 18, her economic and financial options become more limited throughout her lifetime.

The evidence paints a picture of the difficult and important decisions young mothers may face.

Young mothers may be compelled to work out of necessity in jobs that may not promote their economic empowerment—a reality that can extend throughout the rest of their reproductive lives.

“The study examines complex issues, but the implications are simple—in order to move the needle on gender equality, women need to be able to control their own fertility and their own earnings,” said Katja Iversen, President/CEO of Women Deliver.

“We need societal investment in access to modern contraception, safe abortion, and comprehensive sexuality education, as well as in expanding economic opportunities for all girls and women.”

In line with the spirit of the Women Deliver 2019 Conference, which focuses on ‘Power, Progress, Change’, this study explores the association between having a child before 18 and economic opportunity.

The findings have implications for both the Individual’s Power (girls’ and women’s individual power, self-esteem and agency) and Structural Power (the systems, barriers, and opportunities for progress in power relations, including political, economic, and social structures).

ANALYSIS

Women, ages 20 to 24, who had a child during adolescence are 1.2 times more likely to work than their peers. Young mothers may be pushed into working by economic necessity. This effect of adolescent childbearing on employment disappears among women ages 25 to 49.

Women who have a child before the age of 18 are set back economically throughout their lives. Across all age groups, working women who had a child during adolescence are less likely to earn cash for their work than women who did not have a child during adolescence

More than half of all women in more than three quarters of the countries analyzed were employed.

Employment tends to be lowest among 20 to 24 year olds and increases steadily with age, and in some countries levels off after age 40.

The percentage of women paid in cash for their work varies widely across countries. The percentage of working women paid in cash ranges from less than 30 percent in Burundi and Rwanda to more than 90 percent in South Africa, the Maldives, Guatemala, and Colombia.

Unpaid work outside the household is the second most common form of employment in 22 of 43 countries after cash payment, and the most common form of employment in five countries.

Overall, unpaid work outside the household accounts for at least 10 percent of women’s employment in more than half of the countries analysed.

Less than 50 percent of married women work, earn cash, and have control over their earnings across all countries studied, except Togo and Cambodia.

WHAT GOVERNMENTS CAN DO?

The report recommends developing policies and programmes to open up a range of employment opportunities that are economically empowering for girls and women, including those that are compatible with motherhood such as social protection systems.

For example, parental leave policies, old-age pensions, flexible working hours, and child allowances.

It also suggested recognising and valuing unpaid care work and improve the provision of, and access to, high-quality, youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health service and information, including voluntary, modern contraception and safe abortion, before, during, and after girls and women have begun having children.

The report also asked the policymakers to commit to collect nationally representative gender- and age-disaggregated data and using evidence to inform policies and practices.