## Does Child Marriage Matter for Growth?

_IMF Working Papers, February 7, 2020_

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## Bibliographic details
- Authors: Pritha Mitra, Eric M. Pondi Endengle, Malika Pant, Luiz F. Almeida
- Published: February 7, 2020
- Series: IMF Working Papers
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781513528823.001

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### Summary
- The paper quantifies the relationship between child marriage and economic growth using a simultaneous equations model.
- Eliminating child marriage would significantly improve economic growth: if child marriage were ended today, long-term annual per capita real GDP growth in emerging and developing countries would increase by 1.05 percentage points.
- The analysis highlights strong interdependence between education and child marriage, with implications for policy prioritization in comprehensive strategies to end child marriage.

### Key findings
- Eliminating child marriage today → long-term annual per capita real GDP growth in emerging and developing countries increases by 1.05 percentage points.
- Education and child marriage are strongly interdependent (the analysis provides insight on policy prioritization given this relationship).

### Policy implications and recommendations
- Education policies and the budgets that support them should place greater emphasis on reducing child marriage, reflecting the strong interdependent relationship between education and child marriage.
- Comprehensive strategies to end child marriage should prioritize interventions that leverage the interaction between education, health, human capital, and labor force participation.

### Research context and scope
- This paper is the first to quantify the child marriage–growth relationship using a simultaneous equations model.
- Subject areas: Education, Government consumption, Health, Human capital, Labor force participation.
- Keywords: child marriage, standard deviation, WP.

### Publication metadata (selected)
- Authors: Pritha Mitra, Eric M. Pondi Endengle, Malika Pant, Luiz F. Almeida
- Date: February 7, 2020
- Series: Working Paper No. 2020/027
- Issue: 027
- Pages: 26
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781513528823.001
- ISBN: 9781513528823
- ISSN: 1018-5941

*Source: IMF Working Papers — "Does Child Marriage Matter for Growth?"*

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## Content in this bundle

- **Working Paper**
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_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/wp/issues/2020/02/08/does-child-marriage-matter-for-growth-49011_