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Empowerment, social norms and child marriages in Zimbabwe A quantitative study combining the Demographic Health Survey and World Values Survey

Palmberg, Agnes LU (2025) MIDM19 20251
Department of Human Geography
LUMID International Master programme in applied International Development and Management
Abstract
This study examines determinants of child marriage among women in Zimbabwe using data from the 2015 Demographic and Health Survey and the 7th wave of the World Values Survey. The purpose is to assess the effect that individual-level empowerment, and community-level social norms have on child marriages in Zimbabwe, testing if: H1 Higher levels of empowerment on an individual level is associated with lower odds of child marriage and H2 Higher levels of social norms supporting child marriages on a community level are associated with higher odds of child marriage. Drawing on Kabeer’s empowerment theory, an empowerment index was constructed from DHS data. To create a proxy for social norms, a regional-level social norms index was constructed... (More)
This study examines determinants of child marriage among women in Zimbabwe using data from the 2015 Demographic and Health Survey and the 7th wave of the World Values Survey. The purpose is to assess the effect that individual-level empowerment, and community-level social norms have on child marriages in Zimbabwe, testing if: H1 Higher levels of empowerment on an individual level is associated with lower odds of child marriage and H2 Higher levels of social norms supporting child marriages on a community level are associated with higher odds of child marriage. Drawing on Kabeer’s empowerment theory, an empowerment index was constructed from DHS data. To create a proxy for social norms, a regional-level social norms index was constructed from 16 WVS items. Binary logistic regression and multilevel logistic regression were applied to assess associations between child marriage and key predictors. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) from the null model indicated low clustering by region (1.44%), but a multilevel approach was retained due to the regional construction of the social norms index. Higher empowerment was associated with lower odds of early marriage, although this association lost statistical significance after adjusting for socio-demographics. Social norms were not significantly associated with early marriage. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Palmberg, Agnes LU
supervisor
organization
course
MIDM19 20251
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Empowerment, Social norms, Zimbabwe, Child marriage
language
English
id
9213182
date added to LUP
2025-10-14 15:54:48
date last changed
2025-10-14 15:54:48
@misc{9213182,
  abstract     = {{This study examines determinants of child marriage among women in Zimbabwe using data from the 2015 Demographic and Health Survey and the 7th wave of the World Values Survey. The purpose is to assess the effect that individual-level empowerment, and community-level social norms have on child marriages in Zimbabwe, testing if: H1 Higher levels of empowerment on an individual level is associated with lower odds of child marriage and H2 Higher levels of social norms supporting child marriages on a community level are associated with higher odds of child marriage. Drawing on Kabeer’s empowerment theory, an empowerment index was constructed from DHS data. To create a proxy for social norms, a regional-level social norms index was constructed from 16 WVS items. Binary logistic regression and multilevel logistic regression were applied to assess associations between child marriage and key predictors. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) from the null model indicated low clustering by region (1.44%), but a multilevel approach was retained due to the regional construction of the social norms index. Higher empowerment was associated with lower odds of early marriage, although this association lost statistical significance after adjusting for socio-demographics. Social norms were not significantly associated with early marriage.}},
  author       = {{Palmberg, Agnes}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Empowerment, social norms and child marriages in Zimbabwe A quantitative study combining the Demographic Health Survey and World Values Survey}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}