Adolescent Girls Coverage Study

Marital Status Marriage is a life-changing experience that in a majority of cases confers a great deal of pleasure and benefit to both individuals. A marital union, whether officially sanctioned by the state or common law, helps establish a foundation for shared responsibility and resources to support a growing family, in addition to a safe and socially acceptable environment to foster a loving relationship. However, to establish and maintain a healthy marital union that is conducive to raising children in a supportive environment, a young person needs maturity and support to deal with the inevitable challenges that are part of the experience.

In many societies, oneâ€&#x;s marital status can have a direct impact on his/her socio-economic status.

Through the joining of material and financial resources, a couple may be more financially stable than when single. Similarly, poverty and marital status are often interconnected since dependency on the spouseâ€&#x;s income and labor force participation may be determined by the nature of the union and the gender norms related to the institution of marriage. For younger married females, marriage may limit opportunities to study or pursue employment due to the competing responsibilities related to the care of the household and its members that do not allow them the time required for school or work. This also means that marriage could be tied to poorer social and health outcomes for young females who experience a shrinking of opportunities after entering into a marital union. A strong understanding of the nature of the institution of marriage among young people is of critical importance to designing interventions that differentiate between the needs of single and married young people.

An analysis of the 10% sample of the 2010 census showed that among young people age 15-19, almost 75% of females were not in a union of any sort (this includes being separated, divorced or widowed) and over 86% of males were not in a union. For both males and females the rates vary only slightly between urban and rural areas but show slightly more variation between districts. In Belize district, visiting partner relationships appear to be the union of choice: over 17% of females age 15-19 and over 15% of males age 15-19 reported being in a visiting partner relationship.

Among female respondents age 15-19, 68.9% reported being single and 30.6% reported being married, in a common law relationship or living with the boyfriend (the remaining 0.5% reported being separated, divorced or widowed). These data vary only slightly from the general population according to the 10% sample of the census, suggesting that service providers are seeing a group of beneficiaries that are fairly representative of the overall population.

Marital customs often vary greatly from one ethnic or cultural group to the next. Evidence for this is seen the different rates of marriage among young females and males from different groups. According to the 2010 census, among females age 15-19 in Belize, the highest rates of marriage and common law relationships are seen among Mayans (6.1% and 18.7%, respectively) 33 | P a g e