Key Social Norms Take-aways This study underscores how social norms—particularly community expectations regarding girls’ age at marriage and parental fears of premarital sex—play a significant role in shaping the prevalence of child marriage, with notable variation by context. In Burkina Faso, social norms among fathers regarding later marriage were significantly associated with lower child marriage rates, while in Tanzania, social norms appeared less influential than individual and household-level factors. The findings highlight the importance of tailoring interventions to specific normative contexts and suggest that engaging fathers in norm-shifting strategies could be especially impactful in some settings.
Objectives To identify and compare the individual, household, and community-level drivers of child marriage among adolescent girls in Burkina Faso and Tanzania, and assess the relative influence of each factor on the likelihood of being married before age 18.
Methods The study conducted secondary analysis of baseline data from the Building Evidence to Delay Child Marriage Project, using cross-sectional survey data from girls aged 15–17 and parents in their communities. Nested logistic regression models were applied to test associations between child marriage and a wide range of variables, including social norms, across individual, household, and community levels in each country.
Results Findings show that multiple factors contribute to child marriage, with significant contextual differences. In both countries, lower levels of girls’ education and early sexual initiation were strongly associated with child marriage. In Burkina Faso, parental support for girls’ education, parent-child discussions about aspirations, and girls’ reported agency were all linked to lower likelihood of early marriage. Crucially, community-level factors such as fathers’ support for later marriage and higher maternal education were significantly associated with reduced child marriage. In Tanzania, community-level factors were not significant, but household-level fears of premarital sex and pregnancy were prominent, with girls whose parents would force them to marry if pregnant being over twice as likely to be married.
Conclusions Child marriage is influenced by intersecting drivers across multiple levels, with the strength and nature of these drivers varying by setting. While education and agency are consistently protective, social norms—especially around acceptable age of marriage and fears of premarital sex—also shape marriage outcomes. Effective prevention requires context-specific, multi-level strategies that consider the different weights of social and structural drivers, including targeted norm change interventions engaging fathers and addressing community-level beliefs.