Female Age at Marriage of Rural-Urban Differentials in Bangladesh

The aim was to study the influences of several background factors on age at marriage of ever-married females living in urban and rural areas of Bangladesh. Data was collected by Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) in 2004.Chi-square test was performed to find the association between age at marriage and background factors of Bangladeshi females. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify the factors which were responsible for the age at marriage among ever-married females. Chi-square test demonstrated that age at marriage was positively associated (p<.01) with the level of female and her husband education for urban and rural. Muslim female showed lower probability in getting married at legal age (age of 18+ years) than that of non-Muslim and the probability was higher for rural areas. The results exhibited that only 7.4% of rural and about 14% of urban females got married at the age of 18+ years. Moreover, logistic regression analysis showed that husbands and their wife’s education, geographic regions, religion and watching TV were significantly effect on the age at marriage of Bangladeshi females.The results of this study provide some additional suggestive policy measures that the planners and implementers may consider for quality development of the inconsistent factors.