Schoolgirls Not Brides: Secondary Education as a Shield Against Child Marriage

Hélène Giacobino, Elise Huillery, Bastien Michel () and Mathilde Sage
Additional contact information
Hélène Giacobino: J-PAL
Bastien Michel: Paris School of Economics and Aarhus University
Mathilde Sage: Université Paris Dauphine – PSL

No DT/2022/01, Working Papers from DIAL (Développement, Institutions et Mondialisation)

Abstract: This paper examines whether eliminating financial and logistical barriers to secondary education can reduce child marriage. Using a randomized controlled trial including 285 localities in Niger, which ranks last in gender development indices, we show that offering a scholarship upon admission to middle school halves both school dropout and child marriage. It also raises girls’ aspirations for themselves as well as mothers’ aspirations for their daughter, plausibly due to changes in girls’ human capital and preferences. As we find no evidence of displacement effects on non-beneficiary adolescent girls, the scholarship creates unambiguously large social benefits.

Keywords: Child Marriage; Education; Women Empowerment; Externalities; Niger (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I2 J1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 45 pages
Date: 2022-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev and nep-edu
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:dia:wpaper:dt202201

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