third of men in the developing world are in unions by ages 20-24, nearly two-thirds of women in this age group are.

- Entry into unions, particularly marriage, continues to be (as in the past) strongly associated with entry into parenthood, suggesting that the timing of marriage is typically seen by the couple themselves and/or by their families as coinciding with readiness for parenthood. With delays in the age of marriage, this gap in timing between the age at marriage and the age at first birth has narrowed, falling from 22 to 16 months on average over the past 20 years among the overwhelming majority of women whose first birth occurs after marriage.

- The minimum legal age of marriage for both men and women has risen in many countries in the last decade and women are less likely to be married during their teenage years than previously. However, child marriage, defined as marriage prior to age 18, is still widespread and viewed by some as a major violation of human rights.  Based on survey data representing 60 percent of the population of the developing world, 38 percent of young women ages 20 to 24 married before age 18 (down from 52 percent twenty years ago), with the highest rates of child marriage currently occurring in West Africa and South Asia. Young women who marry as minors are more likely to come from poor households and rural areas and to have relatively few grades of schooling attainment.

- The age gap between spouses—often thought of as a measure of the degree of equality in marriage—appears to be narrowing, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia.  There is also some evidence of growing agency on the part of young women with regard to choices of marriage partnesr, suggesting that the nature of marriage itself is changing.

_Transition to first parenthood_ :

- Over 90 percent of first births occur within marriage, a percentage that has changed only minimally over the past twenty years.  With rising ages of marriage, the ages of parenthood are also rising, allowing young people more time to prepare for this important adult role and providing an increasing number of young women with the opportunity to participate in the labor force prior to becoming a parent.  Due to a lack of data and research, little is known about the timing and experience of first parenthood for young men.

- Rates of early childbearing remain high in many parts of the developing world because of high rates of early marriage, noted above.  Based on survey data representing 60 percent of the population of the developing world, 23 percent of young people ages 20-24 gave birth before the age of 18 (down from 30 percent 20 years ago).   The pace of decline in early parenthood has been most rapid in those regions where rates of early marriage and parenthood were historically high.

- Associated with these declines in early marriage and early childbearing, there has been a slight rise in the percentage of births to young women that are premarital. The level of premarital childbearing varies substantially across regions from 14 percent having a premarital birth by the age of 20 in East and Southern Africa to less than 1 percent in Asia and the Middle East.  While East and Southern Africa and South America have seen recent

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