Beyond the statistic: exploring the process of early marriage decision-making using qualitative findings from Ethiopia and India

Table 1 Demographic summary of female participants (n = 91)

	Ethiopia		India
	Married as a minor	Early marriage delayed/ cancelled	Married as a minor	Early marriage delayed/ cancelled
Total (n)	22	21	24	24
Median age (IQR)	18 (16–18)	14 (14–15)	18 (18–20)	19 (18–20)
Occupation
Student	8	20	1	12
Housewife	9	0	19	6
Other	4	0	2	4
Not reported	1	1	2	2
Education level - highest attended
None^a	0	0	1	0
Primary	21	19	4	0
Secondary	1	1	15	14
Higher than secondary	0	0	2	9
Not reported	0	1	2	1
Religion
Muslim	22	19	2	2
Orthodox	0	1	0	0
Hindu	0	0	9	17
Sarna	0	0	11	5
Santalli	0	0	1	0
Not reported	0	1	1	0
Median age at proposal^b/marriage^c (IQR)	16 (15–17)	14 (13–14)	16 (15–17)	16 (15–17)

Numbers reported are sample sizes unless noted otherwise. IQR = interquartile range
^aIncludes respondents for whom education level was noted as “illiterate”
^bAmong girls whose early marriages were delayed/cancelled
^cAmong girls who were married prior to age 18

ISSN: 1472-6874