This report presents emerging evidence from the Young Marriage and Parenthood Study (YMAPS), a comparative qualitative study of marriage, cohabitation, parenthood and divorce among marginalised adolescents and young people in Ethiopia, India (in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana), Peru and Zambia between 2018 and 2020.
YMAPS is a multi-country collaboration involving research partners in Ethiopia, India, Peru, Zambia, Canada and the UK, led by Young Lives and Child Frontiers, and funded by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC).
The report synthesises findings published in four country research reports (Crivello et al. 2018; Mweemba and Mann 2019; Rojas and Bravo 2020; Tafere et al. 2020).
YMAPS employed a socio-ecological life course perspective which took full account of the changing roles and responsibilities of girls and boys as they grow up, and the dynamic contexts in which they live. It emphasised the interrelated individual and structural factors that shape critical moments in adolescence, such as those involved with leaving school, taking up work, entering intimate partnerships and becoming first-time parents. It applied a relational approach to gender and generation, examining the relationships, cultural logics, power structures, and norms and practices that influence these transitions, both in terms of motherhood and marriage, but also, for boys and young men, fatherhood and the formation of new households. Parenthood, marriage and unions are by definition relational, yet policy and programme interventions on child marriage are rarely informed by a gendered evidence base. YMAPS aimed to contribute to filling this gap.
This report presents emerging evidence from the Young Marriage and Parenthood Study (YMAPS), a comparative qualitative study of marriage, cohabitation, parenthood and divorce among marginalised adolescents and young people in Ethiopia, India (in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana), Peru and Zambia between 2018 and 2020.
YMAPS is a multi-country collaboration involving research partners in Ethiopia, India, Peru, Zambia, Canada and the UK, led by Young Lives and Child Frontiers, and funded by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC).
The report synthesises findings published in four country research reports (Crivello et al. 2018; Mweemba and Mann 2019; Rojas and Bravo 2020; Tafere et al. 2020).
YMAPS employed a socio-ecological life course perspective which took full account of the changing roles and responsibilities of girls and boys as they grow up, and the dynamic contexts in which they live. It emphasised the interrelated individual and structural factors that shape critical moments in adolescence, such as those involved with leaving school, taking up work, entering intimate partnerships and becoming first-time parents. It applied a relational approach to gender and generation, examining the relationships, cultural logics, power structures, and norms and practices that influence these transitions, both in terms of motherhood and marriage, but also, for boys and young men, fatherhood and the formation of new households. Parenthood, marriage and unions are by definition relational, yet policy and programme interventions on child marriage are rarely informed by a gendered evidence base. YMAPS aimed to contribute to filling this gap.