Abstract
Child marriage remains a major issue in Nigeria, especially in Gombe State, fuelled by cultural, religious, and economic factors. Despite legal bans, the practice continues, harming girls' health, education, and development. This study aims to identify the factors contributing to early child marriage in Gombe Central Area, Gombe State. The study utilized a descriptive cross-sectional design through structured questionnaires. Multistage sampling was used to determine the sampling technique. The data were entered into SPSS version 29, and descriptive statistics and chi-square tests were used to determine the relationships between cultural and religious factors, sociodemographic variables and socioeconomic factors. Among the 290 respondents, the majority (75%) were between the ages of 25 and 29 years, with a mean age of +5.82 years. As many as 86.7% of the respondents were Muslims. The study revealed a statistically significant association between religious beliefs and early child marriage (p=0.16). Logistic regression revealed that respondents were 28 times more likely to support the claim that girls marry older men for financial reasons, and 10 times more likely to agree that low education is linked to early marriage. Cultural, religious, and socioeconomic factors are the primary drivers of early child marriage in this area. The study recommends community-based interventions, dialogue with religious leaders, increased educational opportunities, the enforcement of laws, and economic empowerment programs as vital approaches for reducing the prevalence of early marriage and promoting girls’ rights.
Keywords
Factors, Early, Child Marriage, Gombe
Citations
IRE Journals:
Oshineye Adeola, Amos Esther, Olarinmoye Abayomi T, Akin Oyebade, Oke Aishat "Factors Contributing to Early Child Marriage in Gombe Central Area, Gombe State, Nigeria" Iconic Research And Engineering Journals Volume 9 Issue 9 2026 Page 2395-2409 https://doi.org/10.64388/IREV9I9-1715409
IEEE:
Oshineye Adeola, Amos Esther, Olarinmoye Abayomi T, Akin Oyebade, Oke Aishat
"Factors Contributing to Early Child Marriage in Gombe Central Area, Gombe State, Nigeria" Iconic Research And Engineering Journals, 9(9) https://doi.org/10.64388/IREV9I9-1715409
About IRE Journals
IRE Journals is an open access online journals established with an aim to publish high quality of research work in various diciplines. We have more than 6 years in publications. Over 2500+ papers already published.
Important Links
For Authors
Volume 8:
Issue 1, Issue 2, Issue 3, Issue 4, Issue 5, Issue 6, Issue 7, Issue 8, Issue 9, Issue 10, Issue 11, Issue 12Volume 7:
Issue 1, Issue 2, Issue 3, Issue 4, Issue 5, Issue 6, Issue 7, Issue 8, Issue 9, Issue 10, Issue 11, Issue 12Volume 6:
Issue 1, Issue 2, Issue 3, Issue 4, Issue 5, Issue 6, Issue 7, Issue 8, Issue 9, Issue 10, Issue 11, Issue 12Volume 5:
Issue 1, Issue 2, Issue 3, Issue 4, Issue 5, Issue 6, Issue 7, Issue 8, Issue 9, Issue 10, Issue 11, Issue 12Volume 4:
Issue 1, Issue 2, Issue 3, Issue 4, Issue 5, Issue 6, Issue 7, Issue 8, Issue 9, Issue 10, Issue 11, Issue 12Volume 3:
Issue 1, Issue 2, Issue 3, Issue 4, Issue 5, Issue 6, Issue 7, Issue 8, Issue 9, Issue 10, Issue 11, Issue 12