Transition to adulthood of female garment-factory workers in Bangladesh

This article examines data from a study on garment-factory workers in Bangladesh to explore the implications of work for the early socialization of young women. For the first time, large numbers of young Bangladeshi women are being given an alternative to lives in which they move directly from childhood to adulthood through early marriage and childbearing. Employment creates a period of transition in contrast to the abrupt assumption of adult roles at very young ages that marriage and childbearing mandate. This longer transition creates a period of adolescence for young women working in the garment sector that is shown to have strong implications for the women's long-term reproductive health.
Traditionally, Bangladeshi society has been characterized by very early marriage and childbearing. In the early 1970s, the average age at marriage for girls was around 16. Although a trend toward [...]