In spite of the high prevalence of child marriage in Bangladesh, studies of its effect on the educational
attainment of women are limited. We sought to answer the following questions: To what extent does
the effect of child marriage on educational attainment vary for women married below 16 and below 18
years of age? Secondly, how does age at first marriage affect a woman’s length of participation in
school? Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted by using the 2011 Bangladesh
Demographic and Health Survey, which included 17,749 respondents who were ever-married women
aged 15-49. Child marriage before age 16 (as compared with 18) leads to a higher rate of incomplete
secondary education, and a lower rate of educational attainment for women. A one-year decrease in
age at first marriage leads to six months loss of education for women. For this reason, we recommend
that the government refrain from fixing the legal age of marriage at age 16 for women.