Divorce and the transition to adulthood in rural Malawi

Marriage is almost universal in rural Malawi and tends to happen young. It is one of the key markers of adulthood for both men and women. Divorce is also very common, and some research has suggested that early divorce may ‘reset’ the transition to adulthood, allowing young people to return to school, especially men, as young divorced women may be disadvantaged by child-care responsibilities. We use longitudinal data from the Karonga Health and Demographic Surveillance Site in rural Northern Malawi to investigate how gender and child-bearing are associated with divorce at a young age (under 18 for women and 22 for men) and its impact on markers of transitions to adulthood. Rates of divorce were higher for women than men, but men were more likely than women to remarry following divorce. Compared to their never married contemporaries, divorced men were more likely to marry, less likely to live with family, and less likely to attend school. Divorced women were as likely to live with family and to marry compared to never married women of the same age; divorced women, however, were less likely to attend school. Having children was associated with increased likelihood of divorce for both men and women, however for men there was no evidence of associations between having children and subsequent outcomes, while for women having children was associated with lower chances of remarriage and attending school. A divorce at a young age did not appear to alter the transition to adulthood, especially for men. While divorced women appeared to have some degree of ‘reset’ as they returned to live with family, there is no evidence that it was a true ‘reset’ as they did not return to school.