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Reforming Marriage Practices In Bangladesh, Sajeda Amin
Reforming Marriage Practices In Bangladesh, Sajeda Amin
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Marriage customs in Bangladesh vary by region complicating national-level efforts to eliminate some of the more harmful practices, such as early marriage and dowry demands, that undermine the status of women. Efforts to reform marriage must consider economic concerns, social traditions, and social activism. Early marriage—often involving girls as young as 10—has been widely recognized in Bangladesh and elsewhere as a human rights offense. The current legal age at marriage is 18 for women and 21 for men, yet age restrictions are difficult to enforce because Bangladesh lacks an official birth registration system that can verify age. By studying the …
Marriage Considerations In Sending Girls To School In Bangladesh: Some Qualitative Evidence, Sajeda Amin, Lopita Huq
Marriage Considerations In Sending Girls To School In Bangladesh: Some Qualitative Evidence, Sajeda Amin, Lopita Huq
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This working paper analyzes parents’ decisions about girls’ schooling in the context of marriage through in-depth exploration of case studies in two rural areas of northern Bangladesh. The villages are sites of a long-term community study from 1991 and 2002, a time when significant changes were underway, partly as a result of new school incentive programs introduced in 1994. The data show that the rise of dowry demands, a relatively recent practice that is barely a generation old among Muslims in these areas, asserts an important and independent influence on marriage decisions and indirectly influences decisions about schooling. The influence …
Terms Of Marriage And Time-Use Patterns Of Young Wives: Evidence From Rural Bangladesh, Sajeda Amin, Luciana Suran
Terms Of Marriage And Time-Use Patterns Of Young Wives: Evidence From Rural Bangladesh, Sajeda Amin, Luciana Suran
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This working paper explores the relationship between marriage arrangements and daily activities of young married women, using detailed time-use data from an adolescent study in rural Bangladesh. Measures of marriage arrangement are payment of dowry and the relative wealth status of natal and marital families. Using multivariate regression analysis, the results show that women’s time spent in domestic work, socializing, and self-care is significantly associated with marriage arrangement variables. Those who paid dowry spent more time in domestic work and less time in self-care and socializing relative to those who did not pay dowry. These patterns of association are similar …