Globally, 15 million girls every year are married before the age of 18.
That’s according to a new study from the World Bank and the International Center for Research on Women. One girl is married off every two seconds experts say.
The World Bank has said that ending child marriage would reduce population growth, boost girls’ educational achievements and increase their earnings. This will also lead to women having healthier and better educated children, further boosting prosperity.
“Ending this practice is not only the morally right thing to do but also the economically smart thing to do,” World Bank economist Quentin Wodon, who co-authored the report – the first to look at the economic impact of child marriage, said in a statement.
Our U.S. correspondent Kevin McAleese sat down with the co-director of the study.
