Schooling, Marriage, and Childbearing in Madagascar

We jointly model the determinants of educational attainment, marriage age, and age of first birth among females in Madagascar, explicitly accounting for the endogeneities that arise from modeling these related outcomes simultaneously. An additional year of schooling results in a delay of marriage by 1.6 years. Marrying one year later delays childbearing by 0.5 years. Parental education and wealth also have important effects on schooling, marriage, and childbearing ages. For example, the women’s first birth is delayed by 0.75 years for four additional years of schooling of her mother.