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Table 2 Marriage, births and sexual debut among adolescent girls between 2000 and 2015 by urban–rural residence, education and household wealth tertile, based on national surveys 1990–2018 from 37 countries, sub-Saharan Africa (in parentheses 95% confidence intervals)

From: Inequalities in early marriage, childbearing and sexual debut among adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa

 

Before age 18 (20 for childbearing)

Before age 15

 

2000

2015

AARC

p

2000

2015

AARC

p

Marriage

 Overall

34.8 [25.5, 44.2]

28.0 [18.6, 37.4]

− 1.4

0.32

9.4 [5.9, 12.9]

6.7 [3.1, 10.2]

− 2.3

0.29

 Rural

41.2 [28.7, 53.8]

35.0 [22.5, 47.6]

− 1.1

0.50

11.5 [6.7, 16.3]

8.7 [3.8, 13.5]

− 1.9

0.43

 Urban

24.9 [17.5, 32.3]

18.1 [10.6, 25.5]

− 2.1

0.20

5.9 [3.5, 8.2]

3.8 [1.4, 6.2]

− 2.9

0.24

 None or primary

43.6 [34.8, 52.4]

43.4 [34.5, 52.3]

0.0

0.98

12.0 [7.9, 16.1]

10.9 [6.7, 15]

− 0.6

0.73

 Secondary + 

14.7 [9.1, 20.3]

15.0 [9.4, 20.7]

0.2

0.93

2.3 [0.9, 3.7]

2.5 [1.1, 4]

0.6

0.85

 Poorest (33.3%)

44.8 [32.6, 57.0]

39.8 [27.6, 52.1]

− 0.8

0.59

12.7 [7.7, 17.7]

10.2 [5.2, 15.2]

− 1.5

0.49

 Middle (33.3%)

37.9 [27.3, 48.6]

29.9 [19.2, 40.6]

− 1.6

0.30

10.2 [6.4, 14]

6.9 [3.1, 10.8]

− 2.6

0.23

 Richest (33.3%)

24.0 [17.8, 30.1]

15.7 [9.4, 22.0]

− 2.8

0.06

5.7 [3.6, 7.7]

3.4 [1.3, 5.5]

− 3.4

0.13

Childbearing

 Overall

50.9 [47, 54.8]

46.5 [42.5, 50.5]

− 0.6

0.12

3.8 [2.5, 5.0]

2.9 [1.7, 4.2]

− 1.6

0.38

 Rural

58.0 [51.4, 64.7]

56.0 [49.3, 62.7]

− 0.2

0.70

4.7 [2.8, 6.5]

3.7 [1.8, 5.6]

− 1.5

0.50

 Urban

40.7 [35.4, 46]

34.1 [28.8, 39.5]

− 1.2

 < 0.001

2.6 [1.8, 3.3]

2.0 [1.3, 2.8]

− 1.6

0.31

 None or primary

60.8 [56.4, 65.2]

63.6 [59.1, 68.2]

0.3

0.39

5.0 [3.5, 6.4]

4.8 [3.3, 6.3]

− 0.2

0.90

 Secondary + 

30.2 [23.2, 37.3]

31.2 [24.0, 38.4]

0.2

< 0.01

1.0 [0.6, 1.5]

1.1 [0.6, 1.6]

0.5

0.81

 Poorest (33.3%)

61.5 [56.7, 66.3]

61.9 [56.9, 66.8]

0.0

0.92

5.4 [3.5, 7.2]

4.6 [2.8, 6.5]

− 1.0

0.59

 Middle (33.3%)

54.7 [50.3, 59.2]

49.9 [45.3, 54.5]

− 0.6

< 0.001

4.0 [2.6, 5.3]

3.0 [1.6, 4.4]

− 1.8

0.35

 Richest (33.3%)

37.8 [33.7, 41.9]

29.4 [25.1, 33.6]

− 1.7

0.38

2.2 [1.5, 2.9]

1.5 [0.8, 2.2]

− 2.5

0.19

Sexual debut

 Overall

60.8 [51.7, 69.8]

54.3 [45.3, 63.4]

− 0.7

0.33

16.7 [11.8, 21.7]

12.3 [7.3, 17.3]

− 2.0

0.22

 Rural

65.1 [54.3, 75.9]

60.6 [49.7, 71.4]

− 0.5

0.57

19.9 [13.1, 26.6]

15.4 [8.6, 22.2]

− 1.7

0.36

 Urban

54.7 [45.7, 63.7]

46.5 [37.4, 55.6]

− 1.1

< 0.001

12.8 [8.6, 17]

8.9 [4.6, 13.1]

− 2.4

0.20

 None or primary

68.2 [60.3, 76.2]

67.5 [59.4, 75.5]

− 0.1

0.91

21.0 [15.7, 26.3]

18.8 [13.4, 24.1]

− 0.7

0.57

 Secondary + 

46.1 [35.6, 56.5]

44.1 [33.5, 54.6]

− 0.3

< 0.001

7.9 [4.7, 11.1]

7.4 [4.2, 10.6]

− 0.5

0.83

 Poorest (33.3%)

67.7 [58.7, 76.6]

64.9 [55.8, 73.9]

− 0.3

0.68

21.4 [15, 27.8]

17.5 [11, 23.9]

− 1.4

0.40

 Middle (33.3%)

63.3 [53.4, 73.3]

57.3 [47.2, 67.3]

− 0.7

< 0.01

17.6 [12.4, 22.8]

12.9 [7.7, 18.1]

− 2.1

0.21

 Richest (33.3%)

51.8 [43.0, 60.5]

42.4 [33.6, 51.2]

− 1.3

0.37

11.8 [8.1, 15.6]

7.5 [3.7, 11.3]

− 3.1

0.11

  1. AARC average annual rate of change (in percentage), and the minus sign indicates a declining trend; p-values reflect statistical significance of the absolute difference in proportion between the year 2000 and 2015. Secondary + refers to completed education level reported as secondary or higher