Abstract            Volume:14  Issue-8  Year-2026         Original Research Articles

Online ISSN : 2347 - 3215 Issues : 12 per year Publisher : Excellent Publishers Email : editorijcret@gmail.com

This article examines the contextual factors associated with early marriage among adolescent girls aged 12 to under 18 years in the regions of Dosso and Maradi, Niger. The study draws on quantitative data collected in 2023 from 943 households, complemented by qualitative interviews conducted in 2024. The analysis combines bivariate tests with a linear probability regression model to identify factors associated with marriage before the age of 18. The findings reveal significant associations with both region and place of residence, with adolescent girls in the Maradi region and rural areas exhibiting a higher likelihood of early marriage than their counterparts in Dosso and urban settings. Although poverty is associated with early marriage at the bivariate level, its effect loses statistical significance in the multivariate analysis, as does educational attainment. In contrast, normative factors emerge as particularly influential: the importance attached to female virginity and acceptance of imposing a marital partner on a daughter significantly increase the likelihood of early marriage. Mothers’ attitudes appear to be more influential than those of fathers. The study concludes that early marriage in the study areas is shaped predominantly by social norms, parental attitudes, and intra-household dynamics, rather than by economic constraints alone.

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