Many young girls in low- and middle-income countries become pregnant early, which can be dangerous for them and for their babies. Studies show that girls who stay in school are less likely to get pregnant at a young age. Financial support can encourage girls to stay in school and delay pregnancy and marriage in some settings.
However, a large new study from Zambia found that two years of financial support combined with comprehensive sexuality education and community dialogue meetings, moderately reduced births during the support period, but not after the financial support ended. As a result, the overall effect on births before age 18 was limited over the 4.5 years study period even though more girls completed junior secondary school.
Longer-term efforts to make high school more affordable are likely to be important to keep girls in school and more clearly reduce adolescent pregnancies in low- and middle-income countries. The study, set to appear in eClinicalmedicine , randomized 157 rural Zambian schools into three groups: one received economic support, another received economic support plus sexuality education and community dialogue, and the third served as a control group. The study included 5,000 girls about to finish primary school (average age 14).
Researchers from the University of Zambia, University of Bergen, Chr. Michelsen Institute, and the Norwegian School of Economics conducted the trial. Previous research shows that poverty is a major reason why girls drop out of.
