Out-of-Wedlock Pregnancy and Marriage Formation in Malawi

Michelle Poulin, University of North Texas

Although a good deal of research has focused on union formation in African countries, major questions remain, including which life events and experiences speed up the marriage process. Using new panel data from the Marriage Transitions in Malawi (MTM) project, this study applies event history models to determine the interdependencies between school-leaving, premarital pregnancy, and first marriage. The initial MTM sample was comprised of never-married young women and men (N=1183) from the Salima District. Respondents were interviewed up to five times over a 26-month span, between July 2007 and September 2009. Our models incorporate gender and socio-economic differences. Despite being in a setting where marriage is generally revered and expected, a sizeable number of women who experienced a premarital pregnancy did not transition to marriage quickly following the pregnancy.