China Daily 2014 photostories: Trials of childhood

Xiao Cai gave birth to her first child in September this year as a 16-year-old, and also a wife who has already been married for a year. In the villages of southwestern Yunnan province, some girls as young as 12 marry and have babies, driven by poverty and cultural traditions. Women married in their teens or earlier struggle with the effects of falling pregnant too young and too often. Child marriage often means the end of education, leaving the girls in a poor socioeconomic situation. Read More: Early start to family life