Publisher/Institution: World Bank Policy Research

Abstract: The set of decisions made in the transition to adulthood — including when to exit school, when to marry, and when to seek employment — are critical with respect to a young person’s well-being over the life course. Although research has most often focused on how the timing of school-leaving relates to future well-being, when first marriage and employment occurs is also likely to affect well-being at a later time, and yet, these two events are under-studied. For example, early marriage may have deleterious effects on women’s future health or economic well-being, especially in settings where women generally have limited or constrained employment opportunities. Most importantly, because migration more often occurs in young adulthood than among the population of older adults, we suspect that these life events are strongly influenced by migration.