Failure to address the impact of child marriage is costing Nigeria more than $10billion every year, and tens of thousands of lives, experts say.
Their research is the first to estimate the economic burden of child marriage in Nigeria, where 42 per cent of women are married under the age of 18.
The findings have been welcomed by Nigerian charity the Child Solidarity Group, which has called for a review of child rights legislation in the country.
The University of Edinburgh study, published in the journal Child Abuse and Neglect, calculates the severe economic and societal costs of marriage under the age of 18.
Girls impacted
Researchers from the University’s Childlight Global Child Safety Institute assessed the impact on girls, who are mainly affected by the practice.
They found that, in 2019, nearly 40,000 children under the age of five died because their mothers were child brides. In the same year, around 3,500 girls died from pregnancy and childbirth resulting from child marriage.
Researchers say child marriage decreases a girl’s likelihood of completing secondary or higher education by 23 per cent. They add that earnings for women who married in childhood are 12 per cent lower than they could have been without child marriage.
Health problems
The study quantified the health and economic impact of child marriage by calculating the proportion of health problems attributable to child marriage.
The research included a nationally representative sample of approximately 42,000 Nigerian households from the 2018 Nigeria Demographic Health Survey.
Child marriage is not only a violation of children’s rights but also a barrier to national development, perpetuating intergenerational cycles of poverty and inequality.
Ending child marriage is an investment in the health and education of children across the country, which will unlock their potential and yield tremendous returns for Nigeria’s future.
Professor Deborah Fry
Childlight's Director of Data
New figures
Meanwhile a separate study by Childlight reveals that more than 150,000 children in Scotland are likely to have been sexually abused online in the past year.
Research shows the number of children who experienced online sexual abuse in the past year is 70 times higher than the number of online sexual crimes against children recorded by the police.
Police Scotland received more than 2,000 reports last year, but this is only ‘the tip of the iceberg’, according to experts. The new estimates indicate that more than 400 children fell victim to online abuse per day.
Staying hidden
Professor Deborah Fry says: “We know from all the research we’ve done that many children will never tell anyone and the abuse will remain hidden.”
The researchers used data from the 2022 census. They suggest that around one in five Scottish children aged 5-17 are estimated to have been victims of non-consensual taking and sharing of, or exposure to, sexual images in the past year.
Childlight chief executive Paul Stanfield says the lack of regulation on the internet is creating a situation akin to the ‘wild west’.
Mr Stanfield adds: “Social media is a key enabler and offending has grown exponentially as a result of it. Child sex offenders have been provided with a platform by which they can come together.”
