A recent study to check out: “Schooling, marriage, and age at first birth in Madagascar” - Maya

The educational attainment of young women in developing countries is often associated with the age they marry and bear their first child; less education is correlated with early childbearing. Policy options / NGO strategies for reducing population growth and increasing the human development index in such countries often include strategies for keeping young women in school, along with family planning efforts and the distribution of contraceptives. In addition to reducing early childbearing, increased female education can lead to greater marital equality and increased likelihood of a woman working outside of the home.  In a study published in Population Studies, July 2015, researchers simultaneously modeled the variables of school attainment, age at first birth, and age at marriage among women aged 12-25 in Madagascar to investigate the role of education in delaying fertility. To give some context, in 2005, only 56% of Malagasy women had completed primary school. In 2008-2009, only 29% of married women reported using contraception of any kind and the median age of first marriage was 18.9. The researchers used rigorous data analytics, accounting for family circumstances and other variables. Their simulations suggest that an additional year of school increases the median age at which women are married by 1.5 years and delays first birth by .5 years. Parents’ education also has a dramatic impact, particularly mother’s education: an increase of 4 years in a mother’s schooling resulted in a 1.6 year increase in her daughter’s median marriage age. Greater wealth also predicted later marriage. The death of a mother predicted earlier marriage.

For more in depth info, check it out: http://www.tandfonline.com.ezproxy.stanford.edu/doi/pdf/10.1080/00324728.2015.1053513