Early union can also make women more vulnerable to abuse and discrimination.
Sizable proportions even form unions before they are age 15. In all societies, women with the least education, who are usually poor, start a union earlier than women with more schooling. Early marriage generally leads to early motherhood. By age 20, at least one third of women in most countries, and two thirds or more in some, have had a baby. Women who marry early are also likely to have many children in quick succession.