PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Bellés-Obrero, Cristina
AU  - Lombardi, María
TI  - Will you marry me, later? Age-of-marriage laws and child marriage in Mexico
AID  - 10.3368/jhr.58.3.1219-10621R2
DP  - 2020 Dec 14
TA  - Journal of Human Resources
PG  - 1219-10621R2
4099  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2020/12/03/jhr.58.3.1219-10621R2.short
4100  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2020/12/03/jhr.58.3.1219-10621R2.full
AB  - We examine the impact of raising the minimum age of marriage to 18 years old in Mexico. Using a difference-in-differences model that takes advantage of the staggered adoption of this reform across states, we find a large reduction in the number of registered child marriages. However, we find no effect on school attendance or early fertility rates. We provide evidence that this is driven by a substitution of formal marriage for informal unions. This suggests that when informal unions are a viable option for young couples, age-of-marriage reforms are not enough to prevent early unions and their negative consequences.